4 



Love — Birds love one another with all 

 the ardor of human lovers, and. like en- 

 amored humanity, they show the same 

 constancy or perfidity — the same spon- 

 taneous gush, while the character of the 

 maidenly modesty is as varied as with 

 our sisters. 



Mr. Redwing Blackbird courts his 

 plain looking affianced with a fan- 

 tastic display of plumage, a gushing 

 spluttering attempt at a song, which 

 ends in an oath of "faithful unto death." 

 Happy lover, he is accepted ; his be- 

 trothed has failed to see his duplicity. 

 and all is well till the nest is built, the 

 eggs deposited, and then he grows rest- 

 less and tired of his bargain, and it is 

 with difficulty that he even awaits the 

 appearance of the young before he is off 

 in disgust with his chums to the Red- 

 wing Club in the big marsh, leaving the 

 faithful wife to raise, feed and train up 

 her family in the way they should^ go, 

 and not until nesting is over and it is 

 time to prepare for migration does he 

 return to become acquainted with his 

 family. 



As an offset to this perfidity we can 

 take the goldfinch, the bobolink, the 

 sparrows and many others which remain 

 faithful, assist in constructing the nest, 

 and while on account of inability on the 

 part of the males or the unwillingness 

 of the mother to trust them, they do not 

 assist at incubation, they remain about 

 the nest cheering the patient mother 

 with song, feeding her, and, on the ap- 

 pearance of the young, take a willing 

 share of the responsibilities of family 

 raising. 



In direct opposition to the conduct of 

 the redwing we find the rosebreasted 

 grosbeak, the robin, oriole, bluebird, cat- 

 bird and many others not only remain 

 at home and help build the nest, but 

 their wives insist upon their taking their 

 share of the worries of incubation and 

 subsequently of raising the family. 



I know of but one case of the new 

 woman among birds and that is Mrs. 

 Wilson phalerope, who compels the male 

 to do all the incubating and family rais- 

 ing while she goes off with her friends 

 probably to talk woman's rights. 



Vanity — Among the young men of the 

 day the competition or rivalry for the 

 attentions of their lady friends gives 

 rise to much vain display. Similar 

 causes give rise to similar emotions in 

 the birds, and keen, elaborate and even 

 fantastic are these displays. The very 

 high rich plumage attained by many of 

 our male birds is held to be the result 



of the keen competition for the females, 

 and not only before the females are 

 these parades indulged in but before 

 other males of their own species, before 

 other species and very often seemingly 

 in rehearsal and while quite alone they 

 may be carried on. 



Of displays of plumage and song com- 

 bined, for birds are often vain of their 

 voices, the bobolink, ovenbird, lark spar- 

 row, fox sparrow, white crowned spar- 

 row and Baltimore oriole may be men- 

 tioned as the most striking. 



Of those which make elaborate song 

 displays without so much regard to 

 plumage we may mention our well- 

 known robin, the brown thrasher, cat- 

 bird, song and vesper sparrows. 



While of those which, having no par- 

 ticular musical abilities and whose dis- 

 play of plumage is accompanied by a 

 spluttering gush, the redwing blackbird 

 before referred to, and, in fact, all the 

 blackbirds, including the cowbird, whose 

 efforts are possibly the most ludicrous, 

 the woodpeckers and the goatsuckers. 



The nighthawk's bold dash earthward 

 with its accompanying quivering boom 

 of which the poet, has said : 



'' With widespread wings and quivering 



boom. 

 Descending through the deepening gloom 

 Like plummet falling from the sky." 



Is but vain display. 



The bowing and scraping ceremonies of 

 the flicker are unique and characteristic. 



Flicker, or Higholder. 

 (Colaptes auratus.) 



Of this latter bird Frank M. Chap- 

 man, in " Bird Life," says : " Much 

 ceremony prevails in the flicker family 

 and on these occasions there is more 

 bowing and scraping than one often sees 

 outside -of Spain." The clothing does 

 not make the man, however, nor does 

 the plumage necessarily make the bird, 

 for, to the accurate observer, indolence 

 however dressed is indolence. And in 

 striking contrast to the cheery and am- 

 bitious appreciation of their possessions 

 or talents of the majority of our highest 



