The Children's Book of Birds Part 24

[15] See Appendix, 14.

XVII

THE GROSBEAK BRANCH

(_Fringillidae_)--Continued

THE third division of this family is of grosbeaks. These are the largest of the group, and nearly the size of a robin, with very big beaks. They live in trees and wear some bright colors. They are also fine singers.

In the Eastern States, and west to Missouri, is found the ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK. He is a beautiful bird, black and white, with a gorgeous rose-colored patch on his white breast, and the same color on the inside of his wings. You can see him in the picture. His mate is modest in stripes of brown and buffy white.

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

A lady whom I know in New England has had three of these birds living tame in her house, hardly at all confined to a cage. Each one was picked up when just out of the nest and so injured that it could not care for itself. It was carefully fed and reared in the house, and thus saved from death.

One of the three was a female, who was as tame as a domestic cat, and lived in the house four or five years. She was a fine singer, though never a loud one. She kept the family cats in their place by pecking at their toes when they came near, so they had respect for her.

Another was a young singer who had his bill crossed, so that he could not feed himself. He was nearly dead for want of food when he was found.

She fed him carefully and brought him up, though she had always to feed him herself. That is a good deal to do, for birds want to be fed very often.

These birds who lived in a house, and were not taught by their parents, never gave the common song of the species, but made up songs of their own. They lived several years with their friend, who was very fond of them.

The rose-breasted grosbeak is one who puts on his gay colors only for the nesting season. When that is over, and he moults, and gets his new winter suit, it is mostly streaked brown like his mate's. The rosy patch is very small, and mixed with brown, so the effect is dull. In the spring he moults the body feathers, and comes out again with his brilliant rose colors.

The bird who takes the place of the rosebreast in the West is the BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK. He is reddish brown and black, with the same color and lemon yellow on the under parts, and yellow under the wings, instead of rose like the Eastern bird. He is a loud, enthusiastic singer. Miss Merriam says of him that his song to his mate is finer than that of any other bird she has heard.

The CARDINAL GROSBEAK, cardinal redbird, Virginia nightingale, or redbird, as he is called in different places, is of the third group of this family. He is found all over the Southern States, and as far north as Southern New England and New York. He is a brilliant red to the tip of his beak, with a beautiful crest and black throat and face. His mate is in soft dove colors, with red beak, and reddish tints on her quiet robe.

Both of the pair are singers. He is much the louder, but she has the sweeter song. He is famous as a singer, and is therefore trapped and caught in great numbers for cages. In Europe, where he is a favorite cage-bird, he is thought by many to be equal to the famous nightingale as a singer.

In Ohio, a few years ago, a law was made that no cardinal should be caged, and those in cages should be set free. In one small village were more than forty freed. This shows how many are caged.

While nesting, the cardinal is rather savage, ready to fight any one who disturbs the nest. If a snake comes about, all the birds within hearing, from cardinals to kinglets, will come to help defend the nest and punish the enemy. They fly at him with loud cries, and even attack him if he does not leave.

The nest of these birds is not very high, in a tree or bush, and they are very shy about it. A cardinal will desert her nest if it is touched, especially if eggs are not yet laid. But they have reason to be afraid; they cannot be blamed for that.

I saw a nest built on a trellis beside a kitchen door, and the birds were so used to the people that they were not afraid. One who lived in that house was a boy fourteen years old. But he was so gentle with birds that they did not fear him at all. They would feed the nestlings freely, while he stood not three feet from them. So they can be made tame, if people will be gentle and not disturb them.

The cardinal grosbeak stays as far north as New Jersey and Ohio all winter, and a little flock have lived in Central Park, New York, for several years. That is most delightful for those who live near, for they sing all winter, when few bird-notes are to be heard. They can stay because they are seed eaters, and they find many weed seeds, and wild berries like cedar berries, that stay on all winter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARDINAL]

A lady once had a cardinal in a cage with a pair of the tiny green parrots called love-birds. These little birds, you know, are always putting the bills together and caressing each other, as if kissing. The cardinal seemed to think this very silly; at any rate, he did not like it. After looking on awhile, he would lose patience and dash right down between them. Of course this drove them apart. Then he seemed to feel better, and went back to his perch. But when they began it again, down he would come between them again. He did not disturb them at any other time, but that sort of thing he plainly couldn't endure.

XVIII

THE CROSSBILL BRANCH

(_Fringillidae_)--Continued

THE fourth branch of this family is of crossbills. Of these we have two.

They are smaller than grosbeaks, and, as their name shows, have the two points of the bill crossed. It looks as if they could not feed themselves. But a beak like this is just fitted to pick seeds out of cones. And crossbills live mostly on cone-seeds.

These queer beaks are used for another thing, too. They help the birds climb around on the trees. They are almost as good as a hand. You have seen a parrot use his beak in the same way.

The AMERICAN, or RED, CROSSBILL is the more common of our two. He travels about all over the Northern States and California. But he's very particular about a place to nest, and is suited only in the northern parts, or in the mountains.

The red crossbill seems to be a whimsical fellow; one never knows where to find him. One year he will come with all his friends to a place, and the next year there will not be one there.

The male is dull red, more or less streaked all over with brown. His mate is olive green, mottled and mixed with blackish.

Crossbills go in flocks. They are usually seen among the evergreens, where they find their food. They are much attached to one another.

I had a chance one summer to get well acquainted with a flock of American crossbills. I found them very odd in their manners. They had the queerest songs and calls of any bird I know. These were not musical, but sounded like such things as the squeaking of a wagon wheel or the sawing of wood.

The birds were very fond of calling and singing, and they kept up a constant chattering, as they flew from spruce to spruce. They spent most of their time on these trees, eating the seeds of the cones.

The white-winged crossbill lives about as the red one does. But he has a really fine song. It is full of trills, something like a canary's song.

One of the odd things about these birds is their habit of nesting in winter. A Maine hunter was once shooting moose in the middle of January, when he came upon the nest of a crossbill, with the bird sitting. The weather was cold, of course, and there was deep snow on the ground. The nest was in the woods, and made of twigs, with long gray moss outside.

It looked so like a bunch of moss that it was hard to see. Other nests have been found in winter also.

Mr. Nehrling says that if one of these birds is caught, the rest of the flock will not leave him. They stay around him, crying and showing their distress in every way, and if one is put alone into a cage, he will die.

XIX

THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY

(_Icteridae_)[16]

THERE are more than one hundred species of the Blackbird Family in America. So we will divide them into four branches: Marsh Blackbirds, Meadow Starlings, Orioles, and Crow Blackbirds.