THE OSPKEY. 



175 



Literature. 



Stories oh Bird -Like by T. Gilbert Pear- 

 son. Richmond: B. F. Johnson Publishing 

 Company. 1901. [12mo., 236 pp., col. front. 

 Price 60 cents | . 



This modest little volume is a collection of 

 interesting stories of bird-life pleasantly told. 

 There are twenty of these in all and two ap- 

 pendices as follows. 



The Arredondo Sparrow Hawk. Our Chimney 

 Dwellers, The Childhood of Bib-Neck. (Wilson's 

 Plover), Robin Redbreast. An Old Barred Owl, 

 The Birds of Cobb's Island, Virginia, A pair of 

 Eagles, Bird Key, The Mocking Bird. The Vul- 

 tures, Wood Duck Life. The Snowbird, A Bob- 

 white Family, Levy, the Story of an Egret. 

 The Quest for the Cormorant's Nest, Cuckoo, the 

 Rain Prophet, Ruffle-Breast, the Shrike, The 

 City of the Longlegs, A Quartet of Woodland 

 Drummers | = Woodpeckers], Winter Life on a 

 College Campus. Appendix I, Appendix II. 



"My purpose in writing these stories and 

 sketches of birds," says the author, "has been 

 that I might make others acquainted with the 

 ways of some of the wild birds which have been 

 of so much interest tome. Should they serve to 

 give the reader a little more intimate acquaint- 

 ance with our feathered neighbors of the field 

 and woodland, my main object will have been 

 accomplished. 



"These stories are not fanciful, but are true to 

 bird-life. The Arredondo Sparrow Hawk. Ruffle- 

 Breast and Socrates were particular birds well 

 known to others as to me. In the case of the 

 Bobwhite family, and Bib-neck, the Plover. 1 

 have combined into the lives of a few birds in- 

 cidents I have known to occur to many. The 

 accounts of visits to birds' nests, bird colonies 

 and the like are given as they occurred. In the 

 Appendix some suggestions are offered to the 

 student and the teacher". 



We shall quote a few paragraphs of some 

 chapters in order to give our reader.-, a glimpse 

 of the author's pleasing style. In "An Old 

 Barred Owl", after explaining the capture of a 

 Crow by the i iwl the previous night, the author 

 states: 



"Next morning when I awoke I heard a great 

 outcry among the Crows. They were living ex- 

 citedly about their roosting pines cawing and 

 cawing with every possible degree of anger in 

 their voices. They seemed to be discussing 

 something of importance, and when a conclu- 

 sion was reached they at once started to carry 

 out their plans. Over the peanut field they 

 streamed, and continued on across the old corn- 

 field where the Bobwhite family was taking its 



breakfast. Straight to the bottom land w Is 



they Hew. anil scattering about overhead began 

 searching the trees and bushes, craning their 

 necks downward and peering into every place 

 where an Owl could hide. The clamor never 

 ceased for a moment as the search went on. 

 What the signal was I could not tell, but at some 

 word all turned their attention to a tall cedar, 

 in which a sharp eye had found the object of 

 their quest. It was the old Owl, sitting on a 

 limb close to the trunk and blinking his big 

 eyes as if in wonder at all the unusual 



noise* about. Oh, how they screamed at him! 

 "Murderer, murderer", they yelled. "You Owl, 

 you Owl — you eat folks raw, raw. caw, caw, — we 

 saw, we saw, you old outlaw, outlaw". They 

 reviled him. they told him as plainly as in words 

 which could be spelled that they detested the 

 very thought of him". 



While looking over "The Snowbird" we find: 



"Visit the .lunco in his summer home and you 

 will find his lodge a simple little nest of grass 

 and rootlets hid away in a low bush, or in some 

 snug spot on the ground; and if the season be 

 early you may rind in it four or five brown- 

 spotted eggs. Here too you may hear his sing- 

 ing: and his short trill of early spring has now 

 a deeper, sweeter tone". 



"There is a picture which will long linger in 

 my mind, of a pair of Snowbirds and their nest, 

 up on tile side of ( irandfather mountain. When 

 we saw it the morning sun was Hooding the Blue 

 Ridge in a blaze of golden light. Down the 

 slopes and into the valleys its foremost rays 

 were darting, jewelling- in their course a thous- 

 and dewdrops on every tree and rock. Grand 

 and beautiful were the surroundings; .is fresh 

 did the world seem as if just from the Creator's 

 hand. On the eastern side of this mountain, 

 where it was always sure of the warmth from 

 the rising sun, a little bird sat snugly in her 

 nest on the ground. Now the light shown 

 directly upon her, but later when the blazing 

 orb should climb higher through the heavens, 

 there was the shelter of an overhanging cluster 



leaves to protect her from the scorching rays. 

 Ibr head turned inquiringly from side to side, 

 as with first one eye and then the other she ex- 

 amined a neighboring laurel bush behind which 

 appeared two heads. 'Queer they keep looking 

 at me', she may have said to herself, 'but I 

 L'H SS they will not hurt a body'". 



"Just then her mate flew along and alighted 

 on the topmost spray of a neighboring- bush. 

 He evidently did not see the strangers, for a 

 moment later in a low reassuring tone he began 

 his morning song. Louder and more confident 

 he became as the beauty of the morning and the 

 sense of security of his mate and their trea- 

 sures grew upon him. His head was thrown 

 back, his white breast contrasted strongly with 

 his black head and gray coat, and his throat 

 swelled as the enchanting strain came stronger 

 and clearer. Ah! why did we ever have to leave 

 the singer and his seme"; 



Again, in "A Bobwhite family", whose nest 

 has just yielded "thirteen, little, brown, fuzzy, 

 down covered balls", we find: 



"Great was the anxiety of the old ones that 

 day. for they had so many duties to perform. 

 Nourishment must be found for mouths which 

 as vet had never tasted food. The grass must 

 be watched for lurking cat or skunk or gliding 

 snake. One eye must be kept open for dogs or 

 men. The sky must be watched for murderous 

 hawk, while all the time great care must be ex- 

 ercised to keep the family together". 



But a sadder strain, a call for sympathy for 

 our feathered friends, appeals from all the 

 sketches; while the author refrains from preach- 



