FRIENDS IN FEATHERS 



Neither does an authority who tells you certain kinds of 

 birds are the same size, male and female, mean anything except 

 that they are the same on an average. All accepted authorities 

 state that Black Vultures are the same size. My male of the 

 Limberlost was a tough old bird, of what age no one could guess, 

 his eyes dim, his face wrinkled and leathery, his feet incrusted 

 with scale, while he was almost as large as his cousin, Turkey 

 Buzzard. His mate was a trim little hen of the previous year, 

 much smaller and in every way fresh compared with him, but 

 they were mated and raising their family. No ornithologist can 

 do more than to lay down general rules, and then trust to your 

 good sense to recognize the exceptions. 



There are pairs of birds in which the male is a fine big speci- 

 men, the female small and insignificant. There are pairs where 

 the female is the larger and finer; again, they are the same size. 

 Sometimes they conform in colour and characteristics to the rules 

 of the books, often they do not. Twice in my work I have found 

 a white English Sparrow, also a Robin, wearing a large white 

 patch on his coat and several white Blackbirds. I once came 

 very close to snapping an old Robin of several seasons with a 

 tail an inch long. It did not appeal to me that he was a short- 

 tailed species of Robin- there is an explanation for all these 

 things. The bird had been in close quarters and relaxed his 

 muscles, letting his tail go to save his body. The Great Horned 

 Owl of our Cabin woods came so near catching our male Cardinal 

 this spring that we found his entire tail beneath the wild grape- 

 vines near the spring, while for weeks we have seen the Cardinal 

 daily rocking in ill-balanced flight. 



A large volume could be filled with queer experiences among 

 birds. Once I found a baby Robin that had been fed something 

 poisonous, so its throat was filled with clear, white blisters, 

 until its beak stood wide open, while it was gasping for breath. 



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