The Burgess Bird Book for Children, Thornton W. Burgess [best reads .txt] 📗

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THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN

Thornton W. Burgess

 

TO THE CHILDREN AND THE BIRDS OF AMERICA THAT THE BONDS OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN THEM MAY BE STRENGTHENED THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

PREFACE

This book was written to supply a definite need. Its preparation was undertaken at the urgent request of booksellers and others who have felt the lack of a satisfactory medium of introduction to bird life for little children. As such, and in no sense whatever as a competitor with the many excellent books on this subject, but rather to supplement these, this volume has been written.

Its primary purpose is to interest the little child in, and to make him acquainted with, those feathered friends he is most likely to see. Because there is no method of approach to the child mind equal to the story, this method of conveying information has been adopted. So far as I am aware the book is unique in this respect. In its preparation an earnest effort has been made to present as far as possible the important facts regarding the appearance, habits and characteristics of our feathered neighbors. It is intended to be at once a story book and an authoritative handbook. While it is intended for little children, it is hoped that children of larger growth may find in it much of both interest and helpfulness.

Mr. Louis Agassiz Fuertes, artist and naturalist, has marvelously supplemented such value as may be in the text by his wonderful drawings in full color. They were made especially for this volume and are so accurate, so true to life, that study of them will enable any one to identify the species shown. I am greatly indebted to Mr. Fuertes for his cooperation in the endeavor to make this book of real assistance to the beginner in the study of our native birds.

It is offered to the reader without apologies of any sort. It was written as a labor of love—love for little children and love for the birds. If as a result of it even a few children are led to a keener interest in and better understanding of our feathered friends, its purpose will have been accomplished.

THORNTON W. BURGESS

 

CONTENTS

 

CHAPTER I JENNY WREN ARRIVES Introducing the House Wren.

II THE OLD ORCHARD BULLY The English or House Sparrow.

III JENNY HAS A GOOD WORD FOR SOME SPARROWS The Song, Whitethroated and Fox Sparrows.

IV CHIPPY, SWEETVOICE AND DOTTY The Chipping, Vesper and Tree Sparrows.

V PETER LEARNS SOMETHING HE HADN’T GUESSED The Bluebird and the Robin.

VI AN OLD FRIEND IN A NEW HOME The Phoebe and the Least Flycatcher.

VII THE WATCHMAN OF THE OLD ORCHARD The Kingbird and the Great Crested Flycatcher.

VIII OLD CLOTHES AND OLD HOUSES The Wood Peewee and Some Nesting Places.

IX LONGBILL AND TEETER The Woodcock and the Spotted Sandpiper.

X REDWING AND YELLOW WING The Redwinged Blackbird and the Golden-winged Flicker.

XI DRUMMERS AND CARPENTERS The Downy, Hairy and Redheaded Woodpeckers.

XII SOME UNLIKE RELATIVES The Cowbird and the Baltimore Oriole.

XIII MORE OF THE BLACKBIRD FAMILY The Orchard Oriole and the Bobolink.

XIV BOB WHITE AND CAROL THE MEADOW LARK The So-called Quail and the Meadow Lark.

XV A SWALLOW AND ONE WHO ISN’T The Tree Swallow and the Chimney Swift.

XVI A ROBBER IN THE OLD ORCHARD The Purple Martin and the Barn Swallow.

XVII MORE ROBBERS The Crow and the Blue Jay.

XVIII SOME HOMES IN THE GREEN FOREST The Crow, the Oven Bird and the Redtailed Hawk.

XIX A MAKER OF THUNDER AND A FRIEND IN BLACK The Ruffed Grouse and the Crow Blackbird.

XX A FISHERMAN ROBBED The Osprey and the Bald-headed Eagle.

XXI A FISHING PARTY The Great Blue Heron and the Kingfisher.

XXII SOME FEATHERED DIGGERS The Bank Swallow, the Kingfisher and the Sparrow Hawk.

XXIII SOME BIG MOUTHS The Nighthawk, the Whippoor-will and Chuck-wills- widow.

XXIV THE WARBLERS ARRIVE The Redstart and the Yellow Warbler.

XXV THREE COUSINS QUITE UNLIKE The Black and White Warbler, the Maryland Yellow-Throat and the Yellow-breasted Chat.

XXVI PETER GETS A LAME NECK The Parula, Myrtle and Magnolia Warblers.

XXVII A NEW FRIEND AND AN OLD ONE The Cardinal and the Catbird.

XXVIII PETER SEES ROSEBREAST AND FINDS REDCOAT The Rosebreasted Grosbeak and the Scarlet Tanager.

XXIX THE CONSTANT SINGERS The Redeyed, Warbling and Yellow-throated Vireos.

XXX JENNY WREN’S COUSINS The Brown Thrasher and the Mockingbird.

XXXI VOICE OF THE DUSK The Wood, Hermit and Wilson’s Thrushes.

XXXII PETER SAVES A FRIEND AND LEARNS SOMETHING The Towhee and the Indigo Bunting.

XXXIII A ROYAL DRESSER AND A LATE NESTER The Purple Linnet and the Goldfinch.

XXXIV MOURNER THE DOVE AND CUCKOO The Mourning Dove and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo.

XXXV A BUTCHER AND A HUMMER The Shrike and the Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

XXXVI A STRANGER AND A DANDY The English Starling and the Cedar Waxwing.

XXXVII FAREWELLS AND WELCOMES The Chickadee.

XXXVIII HONKER AND DIPPY ARRIVE The Canada Goose and the Loon.

XXXIX PETER DISCOVERS TWO OLD FRIENDS The White-breasted Nuthatch and the Brown Creeper.

XL SOME MERRY SEEDEATERS The Tree Sparrow and the Junco.

XLI MORE FRIENDS COME WITH THE SNOW The Snow Bunting and the Horned Lark.

XLII PETER LEARNS SOMETHING ABOUT SPOOKY The Screech Owl.

XLIII QUEER FEET AND A QUEERER BILL The Ruffed Grouse and the Crossbills.

XLIV MORE FOLKS IN RED The Pine Grosbeak and the Redpoll.

XLV PETER SEES TWO TERRIBLE FEATHERED HUNTERS The Goshawk and the Great Horned Owl.

 

THE BURGESS BIRD BOOK FOR CHILDREN

 

CHAPTER I Jenny Wren Arrives.

Lipperty-lipperty-lip scampered Peter Rabbit behind the tumble-down stone wall along one side of the Old Orchard. It was early in the morning, very early in the morning. In fact, jolly, bright Mr. Sun had hardly begun his daily climb up in the blue, blue sky. It was nothing unusual for Peter to see jolly Mr. Sun get up in the morning. It would be more unusual for Peter not to see him, for you know Peter is a great hand to stay out all night and not go back to the dear Old Briar-patch, where his home is, until the hour when most folks are just getting out of bed.

Peter had been out all night this time, but he wasn’t sleepy, not the least teeny, weeny bit. You see, sweet Mistress Spring had arrived, and there was so much happening on every side, and Peter was so afraid he would miss something, that he wouldn’t have slept at all if he could have helped it. Peter had come over to the Old Orchard so early this morning to see if there had been any new arrivals the day before.

“Birds are funny creatures,” said Peter, as he hopped over a low place in the old stone wall and was fairly in the Old Orchard.

“Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!” cried a rather sharp scolding voice. “Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut! You don’t know what you are talking about, Peter Rabbit. They are not funny creatures at all. They are the most sensible folks in all the wide world.”

Peter cut a long hop short right in the middle, to sit up with shining eyes. “Oh, Jenny Wren, I’m so glad to see you! When did you arrive?” he cried.

“Mr. Wren and I have just arrived, and thank goodness we are here at last,” replied Jenny Wren, fussing about, as only she can, in a branch above Peter. “I never was more thankful in my life to see a place than I am right this minute to see the Old Orchard once more. It seems ages and ages since we left it.”

“Well, if you are so fond of it what did you leave it for?” demanded Peter. “It is just as I said before—you birds are funny creatures. You never stay put; at least a lot of you don’t. Sammy Jay and Tommy Tit the Chickadee and Drummer the Woodpecker and a few others have a little sense; they don’t go off on long, foolish journeys. But the rest of you—”

“Tut, tut, tut, tut, tut!” interrupted Jenny Wren. “You don’t know what you are talking about, and no one sounds so silly as one who tries to talk about something he knows nothing about.”

Peter chuckled. “That tongue of yours is just as sharp as ever,” said he. “But just the same it is good to hear it. We certainly would miss it. I was beginning to be a little worried for fear something might have happened to you so that you wouldn’t be back here this summer. You know me well enough, Jenny Wren, to know that you can’t hurt me with your tongue, sharp as it is, so you may as well save your breath to tell me a few things I want to know. Now if you are as fond of the Old Orchard as you pretend to be, why did you ever leave it?”

Jenny Wren’s bright eyes snapped. “Why do you eat?” she asked tartly.

“Because I’m hungry,” replied Peter promptly.

“What would you eat if there were nothing to eat?” snapped Jenny.

“That’s a silly question,” retorted Peter.

“No more silly than asking me why I leave the Old Orchard,” replied Jenny. “Do give us birds credit for a little common sense, Peter. We can’t live without eating any more than you can, and in winter there is no food at all here for most of us, so we go where there is food. Those who are lucky enough to eat the kinds of food that can be found here in winter stay here. They are lucky. That’s what they are—lucky. Still—” Jenny Wren paused.

“Still what?” prompted Peter.

“I wonder sometimes if you folks who are at home all the time know just what a blessed place home is,” replied Jenny. “It is only six months since we went