Color Key to North American Birds Part 49

The Blackbirds, Orioles, and Meadowlarks, (Family _Icteridae_) number about one hundred and fifty species and are found only in the New World. The Blackbirds are most numerous in North America, where, migrating in vast armies and often living in large colonies, they become among the most characteristic and conspicuous of our birds.

The Orioles are most numerous in the tropics, where some thirty species are known. Apparently all of them are remarkable as nest builders, the large Ca.s.siques, nearly related, great yellow and black birds, weaving pouches three and four feet long, several dozen of which, all occupied, may be seen swinging from the branches of a single tree.

The Finches, Sparrows, Grosbeaks, etc., (Family _Fringillidae_) number nearly six hundred species, a greater number than is contained in any other family of birds. They are distributed throughout the world, except in the Australian region, some ninety odd species inhabiting North America.

Varying widely in color, the Fringillidae all agree in possessing stout, conical bills, which are of service to them in crus.h.i.+ng the seeds on which they feed so largely.

The streaked, brownish Sparrows, often so difficult of identification, are usually inhabitants of plains, fields, or marshes, where they are rendered inconspicuous by their dull colors. The more gayly attired Grosbeaks, Buntings, Cardinals etc., frequent trees or bushy growths, where their plumage either harmonizes with their surroundings or where they have the protection afforded by the vegetation.

Most of the members of this family are good singers, some of them indeed being noted for their powers of song. They are less migratory than insect-eating birds and some species are with us at all seasons.

Their abundance, musical gifts, and constant presence render them, from the field student's point of view, highly important members of the great cla.s.s Aves.

From an economic standpoint the Fringillidae are no less deserving of our esteem. Some species are of incalculable value as destroyers of the seeds of noxious weeds. Fifteen hundred seeds have been found in the stomach of one Snowflake or s...o...b..nting, and it has been estimated by Professor Beal, of the Biological Survey of the United States Department of Agriculture, that during the winter season, in the single State of Iowa, where his studies were made, Tree Sparrows devour no less than 875 _tons_ of weed seeds, chiefly of the ragweed.

The Tanagers, (Family _Tanagridae_) are found only in the New World, where they are most numerously represented in the tropics. As a family they are remarkable for the brilliancy of their colors; the common, but mistaken idea that most tropical birds are brightly clad being in no small part due to the abundance of Tanagers and beauty of their plumage.

Only five of the some three hundred and fifty known species reach the United States and these are migratory, coming to us in the spring and returning to the tropics in the fall. Tanagers, as a rule, are not possessed of much vocal ability, our species ranking high in their family as songsters, the notes of many species being far less musical.

Like most gaily costumed birds the plumages of many Tanagers undergo striking changes in color with age and season. The male of our Scarlet Tanager, for example, is olive-green with black wing-coverts during his first winter, the scarlet plumage not being acquired until the following spring. It is worn, however, only during the nesting season after which the less conspicuous olive-green dress is again acquired, the wings and tail, however, remaining black.

Swallows, (Family _Hirundinidae_) are of world-wide distribution, and as might be expected in birds possessing such remarkable powers of flight, many of the species have unusually extended ranges. Our Barn Swallow, for example, is found throughout North America in summer, and in the winter it migrates as far south as southern Brazil.

Birds of the air, the aerial habits of Swallows are reflected in their long wings and small, weak feet; while their small bills and broad, widely opening mouths indicate their manner of feeding.

In spite of their poor equipment of tools, Swallows take high rank as nest builders, and it is interesting to observe that although the birds are structurally much alike, their nests often differ widely in character. Compare for instance, the mud-made dwellings of the Barn and Cliff Swallows with the tunneled hole of the Bank Swallow and one realizes how little the character of a bird's home may depend on the structure of it's builder.

The food of Swallows, remarks Professor Beal, "consists of many small species of beetles which are much on the wing, many species of diptera (mosquitoes and their allies), with large quant.i.ties of flying ants and a few insects of similar kinds. Most of them are either injurious or annoying, and the numbers destroyed by Swallows are not only beyond calculation, but almost beyond imagination."

The true Waxwings, (Family _Ampelidae_) number only three species with representatives in the northern parts of both hemispheres. Their notes, as a rule are limited to a few unmusical calls, which, with our Cedar Waxwing, are usually uttered when the bird is about to fly.

Waxwings are found in small flocks during the greater part of the year and roam about the country as though they were quite as much at home in one place as in another, provided food be plenty. Small fruits, chiefly wild ones, const.i.tute their usual fare, but they also feed on insects, the injurious elm beetle being among their victims.

The Shrikes, (Family _Laniidae_) are represented in America by only two species, the remaining two hundred or more members of this family being found in the Old World. Shrikes are noted for their singular habit of impaling their prey on thorns or similarly sharp-pointed growths, or occasionally they may hang it in the crotch of a limb.

This proceeding enables them to tear it to pieces more readily, for it will be observed that while Shrikes have a hawk-like bill, their feet are comparatively weak and sparrow-like and evidently of no a.s.sistance to them in dissecting their food.

Our Northern Shrike, or Butcherbird, feeds chiefly on small birds and mice, while the southern species, or Loggerhead, is a great destroyer of gra.s.shoppers and he also eats lizards and small snakes.

The Vireos, (Family _Vireonidae_) number fifty species, all American.

They search the foliage carefully for leaf-eating insects and their eggs, and examine the crevices in the bark for eggs of the injurious wood-boring insects. They are therefore unusually beneficial birds.

Bearing a general resemblance in size and color to many of the Warblers, Vireos are sometimes confused with members of that family.

They are, however, as a rule, more deliberate in their motions and not such active flutterers as are many of the Warblers. They are also more musical, all the Vireos having characteristic songs, which if not always highly musical, are generally noticeable, p.r.o.nounced and unmistakable.

The nests of all our Vireos are pendant, deeply cup-shaped structures usually hung between the forks of a crotch, to the arms of which they are most skilfully woven.

The Warblers, (Family _Mniotiltidae_) like the Vireos are distinctly American birds, indeed they may be called characteristic North American birds since most of the one hundred odd species are found north of Mexico. Between thirty and forty species of these active, beautiful little creatures may be found in the course of a year at a single locality in the Eastern States and they therefore const.i.tute an exceedingly important element in our bird-life. Most of them come in May at the height of the spring migration; when the woods often swarm with them as they flit from limb to limb in pursuit of their insect food. The larger number of them pa.s.s onward to their northern homes and in September they return to us in increased numbers.

The beauty of their plumage, the briefness but regularity of their visits, the rarity of certain species, combine to make the Warblers especially attractive to the field student and their charms are heightened by the difficulty with which many of them are identified.

Study them as we may there are still species which have escaped us.

By far the larger number of Warblers may be described as flutterers that feed agilely about the terminal branches, (genera _Dendroica_ and _Helminthophila_); others are true flycatchers, so far as feeding habit is concerned, (genera _Setophaga_ and _Wilsonia_,) while others still feed in the undergrowth or on the ground, (genera _Geothlypis_ and _Seiurus_). Insects const.i.tute almost their entire fare and they are among our most beneficial birds.

Most of the Wagtails (Family _Motacillidae_), are inhabitants of the Old World, only three of the sixty odd species being found in this country. Our Pipit or t.i.tlark is our best known, most widely distributed species.

Like other members of its family it has the habit of wagging or tipping its tail both when walking (for it should be noted that these birds are ground-inhabiting and walkers) and at rest.

The Dippers (Family _Cinclidae_) though numbering only twelve species are distributed throughout the larger part of the world from the Andes of South America to the mountains of Alaska, Europe, Asia and Africa.

Everywhere they are haunters of streams, usually das.h.i.+ng mountain torrents, over and _under_ which they seem equally at home. Darting into the rus.h.i.+ng waters they fly beneath the surface or feed on the bottom with perfect ease, their thick, dense plumage evidently forming a water-proof covering. Their nests are great b.a.l.l.s of moss often placed so near some boiling cascade as to receive frequent showers of spray. The opening, however, is at the side, and the eggs and young are well protected by an effective roof.

The Wrens, Thrashers, and Mockingbirds, (Family _Troglodytidae_) form two well defined subfamilies. The Wrens, (Subfamily _Troglodytinae_) number about one hundred and fifty species all but a dozen of which are confined to America. The Thrashers and Mockingbirds, (Subfamily _Miminae_) number some fifty species, all of which are confined to America.

As their dull, neutral colors would lead us to suppose, both Wrens and Thrashers are inhabitants of the lower growth rather than of the tree-tops, and while they may seek an elevated perch whence to deliver their song, their food is secured and their time consequently largely pa.s.sed near or on the ground.

Few families of birds contain so many noted musicians, nearly every member of this family being a singer of more than usual ability.

The Creepers, (Family _Certhiidae_) number twelve species, only one of which is found in America. This, however has a wide range and, presenting more or less climatic variation in color, is recognized under several subspecific names. Its habits, nevertheless, are much the same everywhere. It climbs the trees of the mountains of Mexico or of California with the same ceaseless energy it shows in Maine.

The sharply-pointed, stiffened tail-feathers of the Creeper are of evident use to it as it ascends trees and pauses here and there to pick out an insect's egg from the bark. The same type of tail feather is shown by Woodp.e.c.k.e.rs, an excellent ill.u.s.tration of similar structure accompanying similar habits in birds not at all closely related.

The Nuthatches and t.i.tmice, (Family _Paridae_), like the Wrens and Thrashers, belong in two well marked Subfamilies; The Nuthatches, (Subfamily _Sittinae_) number about twenty species, only four of which inhabit America; the t.i.tmice, (Subfamily _Parinae_) number some seventy-five species, of which thirteen are American.

Nuthatches are tree-creepers, but climbing up or down with equal ease, their tail is not employed as a prop, and consequently shows no special development of pointed or stiffened feathers. Their toes, however, are long, and their nails large and strong, evidently giving them a firm grip on the bark of trees.

The Chickadees are generally resident birds and, as a rule, whatever species we find in a given locality are apt to be there throughout the year. We therefore become better acquainted with some of these lairds than with others which are with us only a short season. This is especially true of our eastern Black-capped Chickadee, which comes familiarly about our homes in winter to partake of the feast of nuts and suet which we spread for him at that season.

Feeding largely on the eggs or larvae of insects particularly injurious to trees, the Nuthatches and t.i.tmice are of great value to man.

The Kinglets, Gnatcatchers, and Old World Warblers, (Family _Sylviidae_) number about one hundred and twenty-five species, which are divided among the following well-defined subfamilies: The Kinglets, (Subfamily _Regulinae_) seven species, three of which are American; the Gnatcatchers, (Subfamily _Polioptilinae_) some fifteen species, all American; the Old World Warblers, (Subfamily _Sylviinae_) about one hundred species, all Old World except one which inhabits the Bering Sea coast of Alaska.

The Kinglets are small, olive green birds which may be mistaken for Warblers but, aside from structural differences not evident in the field, they may be known by their smaller size, greater tameness, and habit of nervously flitting their wings at frequent intervals. One of our species, the Ruby-crown, possesses a remarkably loud, clear, and musical song, a surprising performance for so tiny a songster.

Kinglets build large nests of moss and feathers and lay as many as ten eggs.

The Gnatcatchers are small, slender, grayish birds which once well seen will not be confused with other species. The Gnatcatchers, like the Kinglets, are architects of more than usual ability, building a nest beautifully covered with lichens. The Thrushes, (Family _t.u.r.didae_) are variously cla.s.sified by different ornithologists, but under the ruling of the American Ornithologists' Union they are grouped in the same family with the Bluebird, Solitaires, and Stonechats. This family numbers about three hundred species, of which about one-half are true Thrushes (Subfamily _t.u.r.dinae_). The members of this subfamily are, as a rule, fine singers, many of them being among the best known song birds, and from a musical point of view the group, as a whole, is usually given the first place among birds. If, however, all the fifteen known species of Solitaires sing as well as the four species it has been my privilege to hear, I am a.s.sured that no one would dispute their claim to the highest rank which can be awarded singing birds.