THE OOLU(;iSl 



83 



Captive Bitterns are easily taken care 

 of as they will eat most anything in the 

 flesh line, and they sometimes get to be 

 •quite tame, but are never cleanly. 



Ella Ka Sands. 



The Birds of My Window Tree. 



Back of my otiice window a modest 

 •oak of small stature ekes out a pecarious 

 existence from the back yard of a mer- 

 cantile establishment. The life of this 

 tree has been circumscribed and its 

 growth retarded by the encroachment 

 of various structui'es. It is surrounded 

 on the east and south by business blocks, 

 and on the north and east by low, one 

 story barns, upon the roofs of which 

 some of its boughs lean languidly 

 through the long summer months. 



This years' (autumn of '95^Ed.) fo- 

 liage has served its purpose, 

 and is slowly passing away: the 

 leaves of the top-most limbs hang in 

 reddish clustei's, which faintly rustle at 

 every movement of the wind and send 

 a shower of seared leaves fluttering 

 to the earth. Most of the outstretching 

 twigs have already disposed of their 

 burden and stick out their naked forms 

 from the mass of the foliage at various 

 angles. Here and there a tuft of leaves 

 still cling to the tip of a twig that bows 

 and sways in the breeze. The lower 

 foliage does not show so plainly the 

 ravages of approaching winter, yet sear- " 

 ed leaves are scattered here and there 

 over its surface, and many of them have 

 joined their companions upon tlie earth 

 below. Every day the mantle of sum- 

 mer grows thinner, leaving gaping rents, 

 through which the wind whisks about 

 the gnarled trunk. 



At present the tree reveals no sign of 

 life, but every movement of the scraggly 

 boughs, every rnstle of the withered 

 leaves, recalls the livelier scenes of the 

 departed seasons. 



During the year I watched the birds 

 that frequented this lonely tree cooped 



up in the midst of a small city, and 

 fo\ind that no less than fifteen species 

 of liirds paid it at least an occasional 

 visit, and doubtlessly there were others 

 that escaped my ob'^ervation, and that 

 one species, the Hou?e Unch, which 

 loves the busy marls almost as well as 

 the English Sparrow, built its nest and 

 reared its brood in a secret nook in the 

 foliage. 



The first species I noticed was the 

 Audubon Warbler; a group of these 

 birds visited the tree late in January, 

 flitted about and departed. Several of 

 the same species were noticed twice 

 again in February, but their stay was 

 short. Several Western Robins paid 

 me a short visit early in February, and 

 on the fifteenth of that month, five lively 

 Western Bluebirds busied themselves 

 for a while gleaning their breakfast 

 from my oak. The Heerman's Song 

 Spari'ow was a frequent visitor during 

 the spring, and for sevei'al days a pair 

 of Mourning Doves loitered about the 

 tree and I thought they would nest 

 there, but I suppose they selected a 

 more congenial spot for they disappear- 

 ed and I saw no more of them. 



On March tenth my eye caught a 

 glimpse of red among the green leaves, 

 and I proceeded to investigate. I found 

 one of the most beautiful birds of tnis 

 region, the Reb-breasted Sapsucker, 

 clambering about the tree in search of 

 food. Quite frequently I noticed one or 

 more American Goldfinches about the 

 oak, and during the fall months their 

 visits in groups have been quite numer- 

 ous. A Mockingbird that nested in 

 the neighborhood, came to my tree for 

 several mornings in the month of April 

 and made the air ring with his joyous 

 melody, but finally he deserted the lone- 

 ly oak, and I heard him quite frequent- 

 ly in the top of an oak in the adjoining 

 block. 



My most frequent visitors were the 

 House Finches, a pair of which reared 

 their brood in the tree, but deserted it 



