THE OSPREY. 



An Illustrated ?vlagazine of F*opuilar Ornithiology. 



Volume IV 



MARCH, 1900. 



Number 7. 



Original Articles. 



•BIRDS OF THE ROAD. 

 By Paul BarTSCH, Washing-ton, D. C. 



3. February — March. 



Tell nie, prog^nosticator of weather, what it 

 will be this month and I will tell \'OU which of 

 our birds you will find; yesl I will even tell you 

 where you will find them. Food and tempera- 

 ture are the two prime factors influencing the 

 presence or absence of our winter birds. 



The climatic conditions of the past month 

 may be summed up in two words — fickle and 

 moody. On the morning of the fourth of Feb- 

 ruary we enjoN^ed gliding over the frozen sur- 

 face of the river, but this was the last of it. It 

 was very warm and by noon the incoming tide 

 left quite a wide space of clear water between 

 the shore and ice. Here I heard the first faint 

 notes from some frog who was tired of his slum- 

 bers and drowsily said as much. 



The Turkey' Buzzards retui-ned this day after 

 a short absence of two weeks. They were fol- 

 lowing the river, closeU' inspecting its white 

 surface and banks. The crows which have been 

 more loyal to their surroundings, resented their 

 invasion, and I watched a number of battles be- 

 tween them. In each case the buzzard was 

 forced to retreat hastily in order to escape the 

 vigorous attack of his glossy pursuer. 



On the fifth the ice left the greater portion of 

 Eastern Branch and the Ring-billed Gulls once 

 more returned to disport their various plumages. 

 In the little flock which has been frequenting 

 this part of the river scarcely two seem to wear 

 the same dress. Some are verj' dark, with 

 characteristic light bands showing in the ex- 

 panded wing, — others are of the pearly graj- 

 and spotless white; still others present phases 

 connecting the two. 



Several cold days followed and the river again 

 closed up. One morning while on my waj^ to 

 office, I noticed a most beautiful picture, one of 

 the best which this season has added to memo- 

 ry's store. The sewer which discharges into 

 Eastern Branch, east of the eleventh street 

 bridge, carried water of a slightly higher tem- 

 perature than the river, and thus kept a small 

 area near its mouth free of ice. On the night 



of the tenth the river had been quickh- spanned 

 with a cr3\stal bridge, and the morning of the 

 eleventh found crows and gulls fl^'ing over the 

 ice sheet in quest of breakfast. A large band 

 of the black fellows formed a chain about the 

 open lake at the sewer's mouth, while in its cen- 

 tre two gulls were swimming and a third one 

 g-liding about. What a contrast thej' exhibitedl 

 a commingling of avian light and shade. On 

 the following morning- I noticed quite a number 

 of gulls and crows gathered on a little island 

 formed by the dumping of dredged material a 

 little west of the bridge. It is the great con- 

 trast of color which causes these scenes to appear 

 unnatural but hunger, we see, will even make 

 the peaceful gull contend with the pesky crow 

 for a meal. The following da^'s gave us an oc- 

 casional glimpse of a band of Blackbirds, Red- 

 wings and Rusty, which had arrived as a first 

 consignment from the south. 



February 15. warm, yet crisp, delig^htful and 

 invigorating. Spring indeed has begun to-day. 

 As I took my noon-day stroll through the Smith- 

 sonian and Agricultural grounds, it seemed as 

 thoug-h every thing was saying, spring-I spring! 

 spring! The battles which Old Boreus and 

 Spring have foug-ht the past week have been 

 very severe and many broken branches testify 

 to a great list of casualties. The Ice King has 

 been forced to retreat, battles ma3' still be in 

 progress in more northern latitudes, but here to- 

 daA', we celebrate the victor^' of spring. Many 

 have come to aid in these festivities. The red 

 maple, red with chatfing at the winds, has lost 

 all control and burst a thousand swelling buds, 

 in assuring spring of her fidelity. Peace! 

 peace! peace! say the branches of the greening 

 elm and other trees as they sway to-day. The 

 maples' impulse seems to have been extended to 

 the sycamores, whose balls so closely g'uarded, 

 so firmly held all winter, are relaxed and 

 begin to show the fuzzy seeds ready for dis- 

 persal. Numerous insects, familiar features of 

 a year ago, are sporting and basking in the 

 moist sunnj- places of our walk, and a woolly 

 bear has left his safe retreat and gone explor- 



