Bird Notes 



By Clara Kern Bayliss 



When the cradles are deserted and the young no longer need care, — 

 what? From the middle to the last of July the nests are rapidly closing out 

 and a strange silence falls upon birddom. For a time there is some chirping 

 of the young who still beg for food though they are as large as their parents ; 

 but the great jubilee of the springtime is hushed and the birds which were 

 so omnipresent seem to have vanished. 



In the hot days of August almost the only bird notes heard are the 

 JVichify, ivichity, luichify, 7\.'ich of the Maryland Yellow-throat, the ]Vheche- 

 chcchee of the never-tiring Wren, and the noisy Thief! TJifcf! of the Jay 

 which strikes on our ears more disagreeably now that there are no other 

 sounds to engulf it. At the noontide there is the strident rasp of the Cicadae ; 

 but never a morning now are we awakened by the inspiring call of the 

 Meadowlark or the clear, ringing medley of the Brown Thrasher which in 

 the early days of spring made us glad to be alive. 



As the silence deepens we begin to hear the IVJicc-liec of the Titmouse 

 and the lively See me and Per-chick-o-py of the 'Wild Canary" or Goldfinch. 

 Perhaps these calls have been with us all along, unheard in the general chorus, 

 as the flight-song of a single bee claims our attention in winter while that of 

 a whole hive passes unnoted in summer. 



But although so cjuiet, the birds have not yet gone. They have hidden 

 away to change their clothing. Some day you may see a Brown Thrasher 

 drop out of a tree and steal in and out along the rose hedge searching for 

 food and trying to keep out of sight. (Are birds really vain of their looks?) 

 No wonder that he doesn't want to be seen, for he is not the sleep creature of 

 earlier days, but a forlorn, ragged tramp who would tell you very meekly 

 that "he doesn't feel able to work." Or perhaps you find him among the 

 1)rush of a sheltered hollow where the winds of heaven may not fan him too 

 roughly in his semi-nudity. And he will not fly up, nor utter his saucy Quirt, 

 nor do anything but hop weakly from twig to twig of the low tangle and 

 make a faint, wheezy sound in his throat. And you say, "Can it l)e that this 

 's the same creature which the farmers call the Planting Bird, because when 

 they planted their corn he perched audaciously on the topmost bough and 

 sang in imperative tones. J^rop it! Drop it! Pick it up! Pick it up! Come here! 

 Come here! Cover it up! Vll pull it up! 



All birds moult in the fall. Goldfinches and Tanagers moult the body 

 feathers again in the spring. Bobolinks, Tanagers, Goldfinches, Bay-breasted, 

 Redpoll, and Myrtle Warblers wear the dull colors of the female until the 

 pre-nuptial moult. Orchard Orioles and Redstarts breed the first year with- 

 out acquiring adult plumage, which does not come to some birds until the 



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