Bird Stories Part 14

_The Crow and its Relation to Man_ (Kalmbach).

_Outdoor Studies_ (Needham), pages 47-53; "Not so Black as he is Painted."

_Tales from Birdland_ (Pearson), pages 128-52; "Jim Crow of Cow Heaven."

_Our Backdoor Neighbors_ (Pellett), pages 181-98; "A Jolly Old Crow."

_Our Birds and their Nestlings_ (Walker), pages 76-85; "The Children of a Crow."

_The Story of Opal_ (Whiteley); "Lars Porsena."

_Gray Lady and the Birds_ (Wright), pages 114-28.

_Bird Lore_, vol. 22 (1919), pages 203-04; "A Nation-Wide Effort to Destroy Crows."

_Educational Leaflet No. 77._ (National a.s.sociation of Audubon Societies.)

ARDEA'S SOLDIER

Ardea's scientific name used to be _Ardea candidissima_, and the older references to this bird will be found under that name, though at present it is known as _Egretta candidissima_. It is commonly called the Snowy Egret, or the Snowy Heron. The other white heron wearing "aigrettes" is _Herodias egretta_. Ardea's "soldier," like Larie's "policeman," is usually spoken of as a "warden." With reference to this story there is much of interest in the following:--

_Bird Study Book_ (Pearson), pages 140-66, "The Traffic in Feathers"; pages 167-89, "Bird Protection Laws"; pages 190-213, "Bird Reservations": pages 244-58, "Junior Audubon Cla.s.ses."

_Stories of Bird Life_ (Pearson), pages 153-60; "Levy, the Story of an Egret."

_Birds in their Relation to Man_ (Weed and Dearborn), pages 237-38.

_Gray Lady and the Birds_ (Wright), pages 67-80; "Feathers and Hats."

_Educational Leaflets Nos. 54 and 54A;_ "The Egret" and "The Snowy Egret." (National a.s.sociation of Audubon Societies.)

To Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, who has visited more egret colonies than any other person in the country, and who, in leading fights for their protection, has kept in very close touch with the egret situation, an expression of indebtedness and appreciation is due for his kindness in reading "Ardea's Soldier" while yet in ma.n.u.script, and for certain suggestions with reference to the story.

THE FLYING CLOWN

_Chordeiles virginia.n.u.s_, the Nighthawk or Bull-bat.

_Bird Migration_ (Cooke), pages 5, 7, 9.

_Nature Sketches in Temperate America_ (Hanc.o.c.k), pages 246-48.

_Birds in their Relation to Man_ (Weed and Dearborn), pages 178-80.

_Bird-Lore_, vol. 20 (1918), page 285.

_Educational Leaflet No. 1._ (National a.s.sociation of Audubon Societies.)

THE LOST DOVE

_Ectopistes migratorius_, the Pa.s.senger Pigeon.

"How can a billion doves be lost?"

_History of North American Birds_ (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway), vol. 3, pages 368-74.

_Michigan Bird Life_ (Barrows), pages 238-51.

_Birds that Hunt and are Hunted_ (Blanchan), pages 294-96.

_Travels of Birds_ (Chapman), pages 73-74.

_Birds of Ohio_ (Dawson and Jones), pages 425-27.

_Pa.s.senger Pigeon_ (Mershon).

_Natural History of the Farm_ (Needham), pages 114-15. "The wild pigeon was the first of our fine game birds to disappear. Its social habits were its undoing, when once guns were brought to its pursuit. It flew in great flocks, which were conspicuous and noisy, and which the hunter could follow by eye and ear, and mow down with shot at every resting-place. One generation of Americans found pigeons in 'inexhaustible supply'; the next saw them vanish--vanish so quickly, that few museums even sought to keep specimens of their skins or their nests or their eggs; the third generation (which we represent) marvels at the true tales of their aforetime abundance, and at the swiftness of their pa.s.sing; and it allows the process of extermination to go on only a little more slowly with other fine native species."

_Bird Study Book_ (Pearson), pages 128-29. "Pa.s.senger Pigeons as late as 1870 were frequently seen in enormous flocks. Their numbers during the periods of migration were one of the greatest ornithological wonders of the world. Now the birds are gone. What is supposed to have been the last one died in captivity in the Zoological Park of Cincinnati, at 2 P.M. on the afternoon of September 1, 1914. Despite the generally accepted statement that these birds succ.u.mbed to the guns, snares, and nets of hunters, there is a second cause, which doubtless had its effect in hastening the disappearance of the species. The cutting away of vast forests, where the birds were accustomed to gather and feed on mast, greatly restricted their feeding range. They collected in enormous colonies for the purpose of rearing their young; and after the forests of the Northern states were so largely destroyed, the birds seem to have been driven far up into Canada, quite beyond their usual breeding range.

Here, as Forbush suggests, the summer probably was not sufficiently long to enable them to rear their young successfully."

_Birds in their Relation to Man_ (Weed and Dearborn), pages 219-22.

_Educational Leaflet No. 6._ (National a.s.sociation of Audubon Societies.) "Those who study with care the history of the extermination of the Pigeons will see, however, that all the theories brought forward to account for the destruction of the birds by other causes than man's agency are wholly inadequate. There was but one cause for the diminution of the birds, which was widespread, annual, perennial, continuous, and enormously destructive--their persecution by mankind. Every great nesting-ground was besieged by a host of people as soon as it was discovered, many of them professional pigeoners, armed with all the most effective engines of slaughter known. Many times the birds were so persecuted that they finally left their young to the mercies of the pigeoners; and even when they remained, most of the young were killed and sent to the market, and the hosts of the adults were decimated."

LITTLE SOLOMON OTUS

_Otus asio_, the Screech Owl, are the scientific and common names of our little friend Solomon. Perhaps the fact that owls stand upright and gaze at one with both eyes to the front, accounts in part for their looking so wise that they have been used as a symbol of wisdom for many centuries.

In the Library of Congress in Was.h.i.+ngton, there is a picture called "The Boy of Winander." When looking at this, or some copy of it, it is pleasant to remember the lines of Wordsworth's poem:--

There was a Boy; ye knew him well, ye cliffs And islands of Winander!--many a time, At evening, when the earliest stars began To move along the edges of the hills, Rising or setting, would he stand alone, Beneath the trees, or by the glimmering lake; And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth Uplifted, he, as through an instrument, Blew music hootings to the silent owls, That they might answer him.

Following are a few references to Screech Owls:--

_Handbook of Nature-Study_ (Comstock), pages 104-07.

_Some Common Game, Aquatic and Rapacious Birds_ (McAtee and Beal), pages 27-28.

_Our Backdoor Neighbors_ (Pellet), pages 63-74; "The Neighborly Screech Owls."

_My Pets_ (Saunders), pages 11-33.

_Birds in their Relation to Man_ (Weed and Dearborn), page 199.

_Educational Leaflet No. 11._ (National a.s.sociation of Audubon Societies.)