Some Familiar Florida Birds 187 



is rather pugnacious, and shows a decided dislike to the migrants, par- 

 ticularly the Robins, not one of which will he permit to remain in the yard. 

 He is a remarkably fine singer, and imitates almost any bird that sings or 

 calls, in that part of the state. 



Next came several families of Florida Cardinal Grosbeaks, the young 

 birds distinguishable by their very dark bills, totally unlike the pink bills of 

 the old birds, and which gave them a most comical appearance. The young 

 males had at first only a few red feathers in cap and breast, to mark them 

 from their olive sisters. The Cardinals feed on the ground quite as often 

 as on the trees, always picking out the wheat from the food, consisting 

 mostly of grain and oat-flakes, which I scatter around for Quail, Tow- 

 hees and Ground Doves. We have counted fifteen of these little beauties 

 on our lawn in one flock, each one busily engaged in cracking grains of 

 wheat. 



There were three families of Florida Blue Jays with us at one tiine, and 

 the plaintive cries of the young birds could be heard from all directions. 

 We were greatly surprised at the length of time — over one week — these 

 fluffy little creatures remained quietly on their own special tree without 

 attempting to do more than hop from branch to branch, and also at the 

 perfectly noiseless and unobtrusive flitting about of the old birds. The 

 Florida Blue Jay is smaller than the northern, and has less white on wing 

 coverts and tail. He is more inclined to be sociable, also. 



At one end of our cottage is a large, outside brick chimney that 

 extends up through a projecting roof, and on the chimney, under the roof, 

 two Flickers have roosted, or rather hung, every night during the past two 

 winters, a bird on each side, leaving us only in the spring, when they, too, 

 were attending to household affairs. They showed their appreciation of 

 our hospitality, however, by bringing us four beautiful young Flickers very 

 early one May morning, and which were evidently just from the nest. 

 When I saw them first, they were resting close together on a pile of 

 coquina rock just at the edge of the river, a queer place it seemed, too, for 

 these shy ' high -hole' birds of the woods. Their cry of three notes was 

 most peculiar, and unmistakable after having once been heard. One little 

 bird would set up a shrill pipe, and wag his head from side to side, when 

 instantly the other would do likewise — then there would be a silence for a 

 few seconds, then a repetition of the piping and wagging. I tried to steal 

 out, hoping to get a snap-shot picture of them, but they were too wary, 

 and flew away. 



Decidedly the most fascinating of all the young birds which came to us 

 was a male Red -bellied Woodpecker, the parents of which can be seen in 

 accompanying photographs. It was exceedingly amusing to watch the 

 bright eyes of this dear little fellow, as he closely followed his father from 

 tree to tree, and to see how very conscious he was of his own importance. 



