222 
FOREST AND S T R E A M 
April, 1918 
THE ANGLER-NATURALIST GOES A-FISHING 
WHEN SPRING COMES AND THE FISHERMAN SETS FORTH IN SEARCH OF SPORT 
THE WOODS AND WATERS OFFER MANY ATTRACTIONS OTHER THAN FISH 
By A. BROOKER KLUGH 
W HEN nature awakes at the touch of 
the magic wand of spring it is in 
the woods that she smiles most 
sweetly. Here, on every hand, are evi¬ 
dences of an abounding life, and where but 
a little time ago all was so still and white 
there are now the myriad sights and sounds 
and odors 
which thrill the 
heart of the 
nature-lover. 
The Chicka¬ 
dee, that faith- 
f u1 feathered 
acrobat w h o 
has cheered us 
throughout the 
winter with his 
c a 11-n o t e of 
“Chick - a - dee- 
dee - dee - dee,” 
now sings a 
silvery minor 
whistle. 
This is his 
1 o v e-b a 11 a d 
to his mate. 
But the Chick¬ 
adee is not by 
any means en¬ 
tirely’' intent 
upon singing, White-breasted Nuthatch 
he is engaged j 00 k s d own upon his prey 
in an occupa¬ 
tion which is most satisfactory both to 
himself and to us—seeking out and de¬ 
vouring the minute insects and insect’s 
eggs which are hidden away' in crevices 
of the bark. One of his favorite items of 
diet is the eggs of aphids or plant-lice, 
tiny insects which if allowed to multiply 
unchecked play’ havoc with the tender young 
leaves of our trees. 
Another bird which has taken on his 
spring song is the white-breasted Nut¬ 
hatch, a little bird bluish-gray above and 
whitish beneath, with a black cap and a 
The 
was 
Above, the cheerful Chicka¬ 
dee; below, the Purple Finch 
rather long, straight bill. The usual call- 
note of this species is “Quank-quank- 
quank-quank,” but in the spring the male 
sings a high-pitched “Qua-qua-qua-qua- 
qua” song. The Nuthatch is not at all 
particular about being “right side up with 
care,” in fact it is more often seen head 
downwards than in any other position. 
As a rule the food of the Nuthatch con¬ 
sists of insects which it finds in the crev¬ 
ices of the bark, but I know of one in¬ 
dividual which varied this diet consider¬ 
ably. My’ next-door neighbor used to 
keep her cheese on the window ledge of 
her pantry, with the slit in the double 
yvindow open and the window raised, and 
this Nuthatch formed the habit of enter¬ 
ing through the slit, pecking off a bit of 
cheese and flying away with it. My neigh¬ 
bor must have thought that she had a 
family of peculiar mice in her house. 
Two little birds common in the woods 
in spring are the Golden-crowned and the 
Ruby-crowned Kinglets. With the ex¬ 
ception of the Hummingbird these are the 
smallest of our 
birds. Both are 
olive gray in 
general colora¬ 
tion. The Gold¬ 
en - crowned 
Kinglet has a 
yellow patch, 
b o r d e re d by 
black stripes, 
on the top of 
its head, and it! 
is easy to see 
the reason for 
its name. But 
the markings 
on the head of 
the Ruby-crown 
are by no means 
so conspicuous, 
as the female 
has no ruby 
crown at all, 
and the ruby 
White-throated Sparrow l ' ie 
a favorite with Audubon maIe 1S - for th f 
greater part of 
the time, concealed by overlying gray 
feathers. Upon occasions, however, the 
male erects his brilliant crest and it then 
stands up like a bright red flower grow¬ 
ing out of the top of his head. The 
Golden-crown has no great musical abil¬ 
ity, but the Ruby-crown has a very sweet 
song of such power as to be out of all 
proportion to the size of the bird. Over 
most of the northern States and south¬ 
ern Canada the two Kinglets are 
seen only as migrants in spring and 
fall, as they breed further north and 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
Golden-crowned Kinglet 
