BIRDS OF GREENSBORO AND VICINITY 



Mrs. Florence Kinney 



I am sure that Greensboro is a very good field for bird 

 study, but I feel incompetent to do it justice, as there are yet 

 many birds that I cannot identify. I will, however, tell you 

 about some of those I have observed, and I can truly say that 

 the knowledge that I have gained is a constant source of 

 pleasure to me, and I find great satisfaction in every new bird 

 I can add to my list. 



Spring means more and more to me every year and I am 

 often reminded of what James Beukham has said in his 

 book, "Where Town and Country Meet," "Happy is he who 

 hath time and heart to stand upon the edge of spring and lis- 

 ten for the coming of the birds." 



When there is the first feel of spring in the air, I take a 

 walk expecting any moment to hear the velvet notes of the 

 bluebird or the "tut-tut" of the robin. ]\Iy first robin last 

 spring arrived March 20; my first bluebird came March 11, 

 which is early for us. 



I have about 100 birds that I have been able to identify, but 

 there are others in this vicinity. It was only last summer that 

 I learned that we had the white-eyed vireo. A friend who is a 

 bird student called my attention to it and we discovered it 

 was nesting very near our summer camp. One morning, I 

 found two of these baby vireos at my door and the mother 

 bird in a tree near by in great distress. As I stooped down 

 to examine the little birds, our pet chipmunk came scamper- 

 ing up for a peanut. "Chippy" didn't seem to notice the birds, 

 but Mother Vireo certainly noticed him and down she swooped 

 and away ran the frightened squirrel as fast as he could go. 



A happy experience was in finding the nest of a winter wren 

 in a log icehouse, the nest being between the cakes of ice on 

 the sawdust. I watched this little home very carefully and 

 was present when the little wrens made their first venture into 

 the world. It was a pretty sight to iwatch the four little wrens 

 on a branch of a tree and Mother Wren busy in serving a 

 lunch. The winter wren is quite common with us and once 

 I saw it as late as December 24. I wonder where it usually 

 winters? 



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