BIRDS. 



Illustrated by COLOR PfiOTOGRflPHY. 



Vol. IL 



AUGUST. 



No. 2. 



BIRD SONG. 



E made several early morn- 

 ing excursions into the 

 woods and fields during 

 the month of June, and 

 were abundantly rewarded in many 

 ways — by beholding the gracious 

 awakening of Nature in her various 

 forms, kissed into renewed activity by 

 the radiance of morn ; by the sweet 

 smelling air filled with the perfume of 

 a multitude of opening flowers which 

 had drunk again the dew of heaven; 

 by the sight of flitting clouds across 

 the bluest of skies, patching the green 

 earth with moving shadows, and sweet- 

 est of all, by the twittering, calling, 

 musical sounds of love and joy which 

 came to the ear from the throats of the 

 feathered throng. How pleasant to 

 lie prone on one's back on the cool 

 grass, and gaze upward through the 

 shady green canopy of boughs, watch- 

 ing the pretty manoevers, the joyous 

 greetings, the lively anxieties, the 

 graceful movements, and even the 

 sorrowful happenings of the bird-life 

 above us. 



Listen to the variety of their tones, 

 as manifest as the difference of form 

 and color. What more interesting 

 than to observe their habits, and dis- 

 cover their cosy nests with their beau- 

 tiful eggs in the green foliage? Strange 

 that so many persons think only of 

 making a collection of them, robbing 

 the nests with heartless indifference to 

 the suffering of the parents, to say 

 nothing of the invasion which they 



make of the undoubted rights the birds 

 have from nature to protection and 

 perpetuation. 



Strictly speaking, there are few 

 birds to which the word "singing" 

 can properly be applied, the majority 

 of them not having more than two or 

 three notes, and they with little sug- 

 gestion of music in them. Chanti- 

 cleer crows, his spouse cackles or 

 clucks, as may be suitable to the 

 occasion. To what ear are these 

 noises musical? They are rather lang- 

 uage, and, in fact, the varying notes of 

 every species of bird have a significance 

 which can alone be interpreted by its 

 peculiar habits. If careful note be 

 made of the immediate conduct of the 

 male or female bird, as th6 case may 

 be, after each call or sound, the mean- 

 ing of it becomes plain. 



A hen whose chicks are scattered in 

 search of food, upon seeing a hawk, 

 utters a note of warning which we 

 have all heard, and the young scamper 

 to her for protection beneath her 

 wings. When she has laid an egg, 

 Cut-ciit-ciit-ctit-ot-ciit! announces it from 

 the nest in the barn. When the chicks 

 are hatched, her cluck, chtck^ cluck^ 

 calls them from the nest in the wide 

 world, and her cJiick, chick^ chick^ uttered 

 quickly, selects for them the dainty 

 which she has found, or teaches them 

 what is proper for their diet. A good 

 listener will detect enough intonations 

 in her voice to constitute a consid- 

 erable vocabulary, which, if imitated 



[continued on page 57.] 



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