File:Birds and nature (1902) (14564762228).jpg

Identifier: birdsnature121902chic (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature
Year: 1900 (1900s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds Natural history
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

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lows in flocks of a greater or less num-ber. Not infrequently several individ- uals will alight on the same plant andimmediately begin a diligent search fortheir food of seeds. Active and of aseemingly impatient temperament, it sel-dom remains long in any one locality,yet a garden rich in sunflower blossomsor a field full of blooming thistles fur-nished so tempting a larder that a flockmay patiently labor therein for sometime, gathering an abundance of gold-finch dainties. Its notes are similar to those of thethistle-birds. The ordinary note is aplaintative mellow, whistling call, im-possible to describe and so inflected asto produce a very mournful effect.While pursuing its undulating flight, itutters a sweet song which is in harmonywith the rise and fall of its onward mo-tion and is indicative of its sweet dispo-sition. Its nest is a dainty structurebuilt of fine bark and other vegetablefibers, fine grasses and moss compactlybound together and quite thickly linedwith plant down. 158
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j FROMCOL. CHI. ACAO. SCIENCES. ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH. (Spinus psaltria). Life-size. SMT 1902, BY A. W. WLW-CBi:, CHlCiSO. TRAGEDY IN BIRD LIFE. For the friends of birds there are, incold days of wind and storm, opportuni-ties of loving service. In the drama of bird-life the scenesare ever shifting, and struggle for exist-ence is not always under sun-lighted,genial skies. It is true that creative love has en-dowed the birds with facilities for resist-ing the havoc of storms. The featheredtribes, nested in chosen coverts,. defythe elements and shake out their plumagein fearless defiance of tempests beforewhich man stands in dismay. A little bit of feathered anatomy willsway cheerily on unprotected twigs, dis-daining the shelter close at hand, whilethe storm beats on wayside. The endurance of these creatures ofthe air may well astonish men, who, withall their vitality and size, succumb, ofnecessity, to the warring elements. But, in spite of their powers of endur-ance, the storm-periods are

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