Bird Day; How to prepare for it Part 8

CALLED ALSO AMERICAN REDWING, MARSH BLACKBIRD, AND SWAMP BLACKBIRD

Length, nine and one-half inches; spread of wings, fifteen and one-fourth inches. The male is of a uniform black, which glistens in the sunshine; shoulders bright scarlet bordered with brownish yellow; bill, legs, and feet black. The female is smaller than the male, and differs greatly from him in appearance. She is dark brown above, streaked with lighter and darker shades; below, gray streaked with brown; throat and edge of wing tinged with pink or yellow, but mostly pink in the summer. The young male at first resembles the female, but may soon be recognized by black feathers appearing in patches.

The nests, which are composed chiefly of coa.r.s.e gra.s.ses lined with finer gra.s.s, are built upon the ground or in low bushes. Those built in bushes are compact, the others are generally loosely made. The eggs number four to six, spotted and lined with black and brown.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD]

MEADOW LARK (_Sturnella magna_)

CALLED ALSO FIELD LARK

Length of male, ten and one-half inches; spread of wings, sixteen inches. The female is smaller. The feathers above are dark brown, with transverse dark brown bars across the wings and tail; the outer tail feathers, white; the throat, breast, under parts and edge of wing, bright yellow. A yellow spot extends from the nostril to the eye. The breast has a large black crescent, the points of which reach halfway up the neck; hind toes long, its claws twice as long as the middle one. The female is like the male, but duller in color.

Their food is various forms of insects, beetles, gra.s.shoppers, cutworms, larvae, sometimes varied by the seeds of gra.s.ses and weeds, wild cherries, and berries.

The nest is built upon the ground, of dried gra.s.ses, carefully concealed in tufts of gra.s.s. The eggs are oval, usually five in number; they are white, dotted with reddish brown. Both s.e.xes engage in building the nest.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MEADOW LARK]

BALTIMORE ORIOLE (_Icterus galbula_)

CALLED ALSO GOLDEN ROBIN, FIREBIRD, AND HANGBIRD

Length, about eight inches; extent, twelve and one-half inches. The head, throat, and upper part of the back are black; the lower part of the back, the breast, and forward part of the wing are a brilliant orange. The base of the middle tail feathers is orange, the ends black; all the others are orange, with a black band in the middle. The female is smaller, and colors are not so bright.

The nest is composed of various materials, such as gra.s.ses, plant fibers, hairs, strings, which are capable of being interwoven. It is suspended near the end of a limb. The eggs are commonly five in number. They are whitish and variously marked with black and brown spots and lines.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BALTIMORE ORIOLE]

SONG SPARROW (_Melospiza fasciata_)

Length, a little over six inches; extent, about eight and one-half inches. General color of the upper parts brown streaked with black, gray, and different shades of brown; no white wing bars; the crown dull brown, with a faint grayish line in the middle; white line over the eye; under parts whitish with numerous dark brown streaks on the neck, breast, and sides; a conspicuous black spot in the middle of the breast; bill, legs, and feet are brownish. The female is the same as the male.

The nest is composed of gra.s.ses, lined with finer gra.s.s. It is built in a low bush or on the ground. The eggs vary greatly both in size and in markings. They are generally five in number, and are greenish or bluish white, variously spotted with brown. These birds raise two and sometimes three broods.

Not to know the song sparrow is to miss one of the delights of summer.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SONG SPARROW]

GOLDFINCH (_Spinus tristis_)

CALLED ALSO YELLOWBIRD, THISTLE-BIRD, AND WILD CANARY

Length, five and one-fourth inches; extent, nearly nine inches. The back and under parts are bright yellow; wings and crown cap, black; tips of the wing and tail feathers, white on their inner webs. The male in autumn loses his black cap, and his bright yellow parts change to a dull brownish yellow similar to the female; the wings and tail, however, remain darker and the white markings are more noticeable than those of the female. The female has no black cap; the wings and tail are dusky, marked with white as in the male; lower parts, yellowish gray; upper parts inclining to olive.

The nest is cup-shaped, composed of plant fibers, lined with downy substances. The eggs are usually five in number, white or faintly bluish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GOLDFINCH]

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK (_Habia Ludoviciana_)

Length, eight inches; extent, thirteen inches. Back, throat, and head are black; breast and under wings, rose-red; wings, black; rump, white tipped with black. The female is about the same size as the male. Her upper parts are brown, margined with buff and pale brown, with whitish line over the eye; wings and tail, dark gray; feathers of the fore wing tipped with white; under parts yellowish, streaked with brown.

The nest is a thin, flat structure made of dried gra.s.ses and small twigs. The eggs are greenish white with brown spots; they are usually four in number. These birds are said to be great destroyers of potato bugs.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK]

CEDAR BIRD (_Ampelis cedrorum_)

CALLED ALSO CHERRY BIRD, AMERICAN WAXWING, AND CANADIAN ROBIN

Length, seven and one-fourth inches; extent, about twelve inches. The head is crested; general color, grayish brown; forehead, chin, and a line through the eye, black; tail and wings, gray; tail tipped with yellow; some of the shorter wing feathers are tipped with small oblong beads of red, resembling sealing wax.

These birds are fond of cherries and berries. The fruit grower can protect his interests by planting some choke cherries, mulberries, and mountain ash trees at the edges of his orchard. Cedar birds destroy great quant.i.ties of insects, and are ent.i.tled to a part of the fruit which they have helped to save.

The nest is large and loosely made of strips of bark, leaves, gra.s.ses, sometimes of mud, lined with finer materials. The eggs are usually five in number, dull gray spotted with black and brown.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CEDAR BIRD]

BROWN THRUSH (_Harporhynchus rufus_)