Part 16

“June’s bridesman, poet o’ the year, Gladness on wings, the bobolink is here; Half-hid in tip-top apple-bloom he sings, Or climbs against the breeze with quiverin’ wings, Or, givin’ way to’t in mock despair, Runs down, a brook o’ laughter, thro’ the air,”—

a rhythmical tribute that is both an honor to the poet and a compliment to the bobolink.

The Baltimore oriole also claims Mr. Lowell’s admiration. There is one descriptive passage relative to this bird that, in my opinion, goes ahead of even the famous bobolink eulogy just quoted:

“Hush! ’Tis he! My oriole, my glance of summer fire, Is come at last, and, ever on the watch, Twitches the pack-thread I had lightly wound About the bough to help his housekeeping,— Twitches and scouts by turns, blessing his luck, Yet fearing me who laid it in his way, Nor, more than wiser we in our affairs, Divines the providence that hides and helps. _Heave, ho! Heave, ho!_ he whistles as the twine Slackens its hold; _once more, now!_ and a flash Lightens across the sunlight to the elm Where his mate dangles at her cup of felt Nor all his booty is the thread; he trails My loosened thought with it along the air, And I must follow, would I ever find The inward rhyme to all this wealth of life.”

The last sentence is a deft turn at weaving, oriole-like, a thread of moral reflection into a fine piece of description. Even in his later years Lowell could not throw off the spell that this summer flake of gold had thrown over him; for in his volume called “Heartsease and Rue” he has inserted a little poem entitled “The Nest” that for rhythmical flow and beauty has not been excelled by any of his earlier productions. He first describes the nest in May as follows:—

“Then from the honeysuckle gray The oriole with experienced quest Twitches the fibrous bark away, The cordage of his hammock nest, Cheering his labor with a note Rich as the orange of his throat.

“High o’er the loud and dusty road The soft gray cup in safety swings, To brim ere August with its load Of downy breasts and throbbing wings, O’er which the friendly elm-tree heaves An emerald roof with sculptured leaves. · · · · · · · Thy duty, wingëd flame of Spring, Is but to love and fly and sing.”

Then he chants a pathetic “palinode,” as he calls it, in December, when

“... homeless winds complain along The columned choir once thrilled with song.

“And thou, dear nest, whence joy and praise The thankful oriole used to pour, Swing’st empty while the north winds chase Their snowy swarms from Labrador. But, loyal to the happy past, I love thee still for what thou wast.”

Besides the bobolink and the oriole, the blackbird is often made to do charming duty in Lowell’s verse. Every student of the birds has often seen the picture described by the line,—

“Alders the creaking red-wings sink on;”

or heard

“... the blackbirds clatt’rin’ in tall trees An’ settlin’ things in windy Congresses,— Queer politicians, though, for I’ll be skinned Ef all on ’em don’t head against the wind.”

A number of quotations in which the robin figures conspicuously have already been given. One more occurs to me,—that in which Hosea Biglow exclaims,—

“Thet’s robin-redbreast’s almanick; he knows That arter this ther’ ’s only blossom-snows; So, choosin’ out a handy crotch an’ spouse, He goes to plast’rin’ his adobë house.”

But hold! here is still another:—

“The Maple puts her corals on in May, While loitering frosts about the lowlands cling, To be in tune with what the robins sing, Plastering new log-huts ’mid her branches gray.”

It can scarcely be hoped to make this anthology from Lowell exhaustive, for almost every time I turn the leaves of his poetical works I stumble upon some reference to the birds before unnoted; but this article would be incomplete should one of his choicest bits of metrical description, which must bring both anthology and book to a close, be omitted. It is found in the poem entitled “The Nightingale in the Study,” the whole of which must be read to catch the drift of its moral teaching. The poet doubtless attributes more magnanimity to the cat-bird than that carolist is entitled to,—but no matter; the Muses cannot be over-precise. Here is a charmer:—

“‘Come forth!’ my cat-bird calls to me, ‘And hear me sing a cavatina That, in this old familiar tree, Shall hang a garden of Alcina.

· · · · · · ·

“‘Or, if to me you will not hark, By Beaver Brook a thrush is ringing Till all the alder-coverts dark Seem sunshine-dappled with his singing.

“‘Come out beneath the unmastered sky, With its emancipating spaces, And learn to sing as well as I, Without premeditated graces.

· · · · · · ·

“‘Come out! with me the oriole cries, Escape the demon that pursues you! And hark! the cuckoo weatherwise, Still hiding, farther onward wooes you.’”

But this time, for a wonder, the poet declines the invitation to go out of doors, because, as he says, “a bird is singing in my brain;” and yet he does so with evident regret, for he exclaims, in response to the cat-bird’s plea,—

“‘Alas, dear friend, that, all my days, Has poured from that syringa thicket The quaintly discontinuous lays To which I hold a season ticket,—

“‘A season ticket cheaply bought With a dessert of pilfered berries, And who so oft my love has caught With morn and evening voluntaries,

“‘Deem me not faithless, if all day Among my dusty books I linger, No pipe, like thee, for June to play With fancy-led, half-conscious finger.

“‘A bird is singing in my brain, And bubbling o’er with mingled fancies, Gay, tragic, rapt, right heart of Spain Fed with the sap of old romances;’”

and so for once the poet of the birds cannot be lured from his study, where he has been caught in the weft of old Moorish and Castilian legends, and he concludes his apology with the only slighting allusion in all his verses, so far as I have discovered, to his beloved winged minstrels:—

“‘Bird of to-day, thy songs are stale To his, my singer of all weathers, My Calderon, my nightingale, My Arab soul in Spanish feathers.

“‘Ah, friend, these singers dead so long, And still, God knows, in purgatory, Give its best sweetness to all song, To Nature’s self her better glory.’”

Thus the Lowell anthology has swollen to a veritable anthem, and gives to this modest volume a peroration that it can never hope to deserve.

APPENDIX. MY BIRD LIST.

The following is an alphabetical list of the birds which I have seen in my neighborhood, Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. It is given for the convenience of bird students, who are always interested in the _locale_ of the feathered tribe. The small figure (1) indicates residents all the year round; (2), summer residents; (3), winter residents; (4), migrants.

Bittern, American.² Blackbird, red-winged.² Bluebird.² (occasionally winter resident). Bobolink.² Bob-white.¹ Bunting, black-throated; Dickcissel.² Butcher-bird.⁴ Buzzard, turkey.²

Cat-bird.² Cedar-bird.⁴ Chat, yellow-breasted.² Chickadee, black-capped.¹ Cow-bird.² Creeper, brown.³ Crow.¹ Cuckoo, black-billed.² yellow-billed.²

Dickcissel.² Dove, turtle or mourning.¹ Duck, wood.²

Finch, purple.⁴ Flicker.¹ Flycatcher, Acadian.⁴ crested.² least.⁴ Traill’s.⁴ yellow-bellied.⁴

Gnatcatcher, blue-gray.⁴ Goldfinch, American.¹ Grass-finch.² Grossbeak, cardinal.¹ rose-breasted.⁴ Grouse, ruffed.¹

Hawk, red-shouldered.³ sharp-shinned.³ sparrow.¹ Heron, great blue.² green.² Humming-bird, ruby-throated.²

Indigo-bird.²

Jay, blue.² Junco; snowbird.³

Killdeer.² Kingbird.² Kingfisher, belted.² Kinglet, golden-crowned.³ ruby-crowned.⁴

Lark, horned or shore.³ meadow.²

Martin, purple.² Night-hawk.²

Nuthatch, white-breasted.¹ red-breasted.⁴

Oriole, Baltimore.² orchard.² Oven bird.² Owl, screech.¹

Pewee, wood.² Phœbe; house pewee.² Pipit, American.³

Redstart.⁴ Robin.² (sometimes in winter).

Sandpiper, spotted.² Sapsucker, yellow-bellied.⁴ Shrike, loggerhead.⁴ Sparrow, chipping.² English.¹ field.² fox.⁴ grasshopper.² lark.⁴ Savanna.⁴ song.¹ swamp.⁴ tree.³ white-crowned.⁴ white-throated.⁴ Swallow, bank.² barn.² cliff or cave. white-bellied or tree.² Swift, chimney.²

Tanager, scarlet.² Titmouse, tufted.¹ Thrasher, brown.² Thrush, hermit.⁴ Wilson’s or veery.⁴ wood.² Towhee; chewink.²

Vireo, blue-headed.⁴ red-eyed.² warbling.² white-eyed.⁴ yellow-throated.⁴

Warbler, bay-breasted.⁴ black and white.⁴ Blackburnian.⁴ black-poll.⁴ black-throated blue.⁴ black-throated green.⁴ blue-winged.⁴ Canadian.⁴ cerulean.⁴ chestnut-sided.⁴ Connecticut.⁴ golden-winged.⁴ hooded.⁴ Kirtland’s.⁴ magnolia.⁴ Maryland yellow-throat.² mourning.⁴ myrtle.⁴ Nashville.⁴ palm or red-poll.⁴ Tennessee.⁴ Wilson’s; green black-capped.⁴ worm-eating.⁴ yellow or summer.² Water-thrush.⁴ Louisiana.⁴ Whippoorwill.² Woodpecker, downy.¹ golden-winged; flicker.¹ hairy.¹ red-bellied; zebra-bird.³ red-headed.² yellow-bellied.⁴ Wren, Bewick’s.² Carolina.¹ house.² short-billed marsh.⁴ winter.⁴

FOOTNOTES.

[1]Some months after the foregoing had appeared in the columns of a popular journal I had occasion to modify one assertion. For many years I had been studying the creeper, and had never seen him descend a tree or bough head-first until one autumn day while loitering in the woods. A creeper was hitching up the stem of a sapling in his characteristic manner; as I drew near, he seemed to catch a glimpse of a tidbit in his rear, near the sapling’s root. In his extreme haste to secure it before I drove him away, he wheeled around, scuttled down over the bark head-foremost a distance of perhaps two feet, picked up his morsel, and then dashed out of sight, as if ashamed of his breach of creeper etiquette, probably to eat humble pie at his leisure. That was in the autumn of 1892. Since then no creeper, to my knowledge, has been guilty of a similar offence against the _convenances_.

[2]Long after this statement had appeared in print, Mr. Bradford Torrey described, in the “Atlantic Monthly,” a similar performance which he witnessed in Florida; and, rather oddly, myrtle warblers were also the actors in this instance.

[3]Mr. Eldridge E. Fish, to whom reference has already been made, after reading this article, which first appeared in a weekly paper, suggested in a letter that the little warbler could not well remove the intruded egg without breaking it, which would spoil her nest altogether. Hence she simply adds another story to her dwelling. This is doubtless the true explanation.

[4]This is, after all, no exception, for I have since found a number of turtle-doves’ nests on the ground.

[5]The reader will see, from the facts given in the remainder of the chapter, that I reckoned without my host in supposing that woodpeckers usually sleep in cavities of trees. That they sometimes select such places for roosts cannot be doubted; but that such is always or even generally their habit the experiments described farther on conclusively disprove. It is only fair to say that the rest of the chapter was added long after the foregoing had been written, and proves how unsafe it is for the naturalist to make generalizations.

[6]Since this was written, I have found several more nests, and have even watched the skilful architects at their house-building.

[7]This series of papers, as well as some others in this volume, was written at the suggestion of Mr. Amos R. Wells, of “The Golden Rule,” Boston, and was first published in that journal.

[8]This episode is referred to in the chapter on “Nest-Hunting.”

[9]This article, under the title of “Lowell and the Birds” was first published in the “New England Magazine,” for November, 1891, shortly after the poet’s death. Copyright credit is here given to the publisher of that magazine.

[10]The one noted in the chapter on “The Wood-Pewee.” As the poem on this bird is quoted in that article, it has been purposely omitted from this collection of passages.

INDEX.

A Accentor, 199. Addison, quoted, 168. Allen, J. A., quoted, 79-80.

B Bird baths, 15, 38, 39, 51, 205. Bird colonies, 42-44. Bird migration, 64, 76-86. Bird plumage, 87-91. Bird roosts, 116-126. Bird sadness, 207, 208. Bird song, my creed regarding, 13, 14. Birds of Paradise, 167. Blackbirds, 180, 249, 258. crow, 29, 34, 35, 63. red-winged, 29, 65, 120, 125. yellow-headed, 235. Bluebirds, 28, 88, 165, 190, 209, 249, 250. Bobolink, 200, 247, 255, 256. Bolles, Frank, 29. Brewster, William, 84-86. Browning, Robert, quoted, 150. Browning, Mrs. E. B., quoted, 169. Bryant, W. C., quoted, 81. Bunting, black-throated, 112. cow, 96, 97, 125, 178, 180, 199. towhee, 66, 89, 93, 113, 156, 163, 200. Burns, Robert, quoted, 207. Burroughs, John, 29, 165, 211.

C Cat-bird, 24-26, 82, 125, 143, 259-261. Chapman, Frank M., 80. Chat, yellow-breasted, 102, 154, 193-4. Chewink, 62. Chickadee, 42, 44, 217, 250. Coleridge, quoted, 208. Collectors, 214. Creeper, brown, 15, 17-20, 44, 203, 219. Cross-bill, 209. Crow, 154, 251. Cuckoo, yellow-billed, 174, 187.

D Dove, turtle, 13, 63, 120, 172, 173.

E Emerson, 42, 52, 244. quoted, 10, 11, 49, 141, 158, 225.

F Falcon, 252. Finch, cut-throat, 206. purple, 72. Fish, Eldridge E., 94, 97, 209. Flicker, yellow-hammer, 57, 124, 162, 205. Flycatcher, Traill’s, 85.

G Gibson, W. H., quoted, 92. Gnat-catcher, blue-gray, 144-146, 195. Goldfinch, 74, 104-109, 113, 187, 232, 235. Grackle, purple (_see_ Crow blackbird), 35. Grass-finch, 68, 88, 112, 118. Grossbeak, Brazilian, 232. cardinal, 46, 62, 90, 113, 156, 232. evening, 71. rose-breasted, 64, 73. Grouse, ruffed, 166.

H Hawk, hen, 250. sparrow, 210. Heron, great blue, 237. green, 155, 181-183. Howells, W. D., quoted, 11. Hummers, 165.

I Indigo-bird, 87, 102, 153, 235.

J Jay, blue, 28, 196, 210, 234. Juncos (_see_ Snow-birds), 51, 53-56, 82, 118, 219, 229.

K Killdeer, 28, 65, 99, 183. King-bird; bee-martin, 197. Kingfisher, Australian, 234. belted, 184. Kinglets, 42, 166. golden-crowned, 36, 44, 81, 204, 209. ruby-crowned, 91, 204.

L Langille, J. H., quoted, 166. Lanier, Sidney, quoted, 14-15, 133. Larcom, Lucy, quoted, 68. Lark, 247, 252, 253. meadow, 65, 84, 112, 118, 125, 173. Longfellow, quoted, 164. Lowell, 40, 45. quoted, 113, 128-9, 130, 131, 175, 198, 222, 243-261.

M Martin, house or purple, 241. Mexican stars, 166. Milton, quoted, 200. Montreal, 226. Mount Royal, Canada, 227-231.

N Nests, 20, 92-109, 169-185. Night-hawk, 135-140. Nonpareil, 212, 232. Nuthatch, white-breasted, 15, 29, 31, 35, 42, 45, 47, 212.

O Oriole, Baltimore, 64, 99, 113, 249, 257, 260. orchard, 153, 180. Oven-bird, 142. Owls, 121, 238.

P Parrots, 236. Pelicans, 237. Pewee, wood, 114, 115, 127-134, 190, 196, 220, 244. Pheasant, silver, 234. Phœbe, 69, 126, 189, 220, 250.

R Redstart, 74, 91, 230. Robin, 27, 65, 73, 112, 120, 200, 211, 233, 246, 249, 250, 251, 259.

S Sandpiper, 254. Sangster, Margaret E., quoted, 93. Shakespeare, quoted, 212. Snow-bird (_see_ Junco), 49, 51, 250. Sparrow, bush, 12, 68, 88, 99, 102-104, 105, 106, 109, 112, 120. chipping, 69, 88, 210. English, 239. fox, 67. grasshopper, 156. lark, 112, 118. song, 13, 15, 46, 56, 58, 60-62, 63, 65, 66, 114, 119, 153, 164, 229. swamp, 222. tree, 15, 49-51, 53, 55, 56, 59-60, 116. white-crowned, 90. white-throated, 120, 224, 233, 237. Starling, English, 232. Swallow, bank, 98. Swan, 251, 253.

T Tanager, scarlet, 65, 89, 213. Thrasher, brown, 14, 64, 81, 82, 94, 120, 121, 143, 148-151, 190, 202, 206. Titmouse, black-capped, 15, 31, 32, 64, 113, 180. crested, 20, 32, 35, 45. Thrush, Wilson’s, 227, 228. wood, 95, 122, 156, 159, 170-172, 179, 190, 206, 259. Torrey, Bradford, 39, 134, 149, 223.

V Vireo, blue-headed, 71-72. red-eyed, 72, 85, 177, 230. warbling, 99, 152, 196.

W Wallace, A. R., quoted, 167. Warblers, 38, 82, 85, 86, 90, 217. bay-breasted, 74. Blackburnian, 220. black-throated blue, 220. black-throated green, 220, 221, 230. blue-winged, 70. cerulean, 114, 220. chestnut-sided, 114, 220, 230. creeping, 220, 229. hooded, 83, 146-148, 199. Kentucky, 156. Maryland yellow-throat, 85, 91, 113, 153. mourning, 83. myrtle, 38, 39, 220. parula, 220. summer, 96-98. worm-eating, 144. Water-thrush, Louisiana, 158. Waxbills, 231. Weaver-birds, 236. Whippoorwill, 135, 149. Wood-dove, 254. Woodpeckers, 17, 42, 124, 248. downy, 15, 46, 163. hairy, 32, 46. red-bellied; zebra-bird, 21. red-headed, 32, 36-38, 89, 123, 125, 142, 186, 197, 199, 202. yellow-bellied; sap-sucker, 29, 30. Wren, Bewick’s, 39, 64, 69, 143. Carolina, 41, 113, 157.

Z Zoölogical Garden, a visit to, 231-239.

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Transcriber’s Notes

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--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.