The Birds of Washington (Volume 1 of 2) A complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state

The nest of the Pacific Horned Lark is not often concealed, but usually it does not more than fill the hollow of some cavity, natural or artificial,—a wheel-rut, a footprint of...

This must have been a typical structure, but near Chelan I found the birds nesting at the end of a tunnel driven into a perpendicular bank much frequented by Bank Swallows. The...

The Tree Swallow is a lover of the water and is seldom to be found at a great distance from it. It is close to the surface of ponds and lakes that the earliest insects are to be...

If possible, the Chestnut-backed Chickadee is a little more delicately moulded and more fay-like in demeanor than its gray-backed cousin, the Oregon Chickadee. Unlike the latter...

Nesting.—_Nest_: on the ground in thick grass or weeds; a slight depression lined (carefully or not) and usually overarched with dried grasses. _Eggs_: 4-6, white, speckled and...

This female Cassin was a wearisome bird, for she sat and twittered inanely, or coaxed, every minute her husband was in the tree. He, poor soul, was visibly annoyed at her indole...

The local representative of the widespread Downy type is a perfect miniature of the more abundant Harris Woodpecker, even in flight and voice; and to the same causes must be att...

If the Corvine affinities of this bird were nowhere else betrayed, they might be known from the hunger cries of the young. The importunate _añh, añh, añh_ of the expectant bantl...

The psychology of the Crow is worthy of a separate treatise. All birds have a certain faculty of direct perception, which we are pleased to call instinct; but the Crow, at least...

The Cliff Swallows are, of course, beyond the reach of all four-footed enemies, but now and again a June rain-storm comes at the cliff from an unexpected quarter and plays sad h...

Description.—_Adult male_: Upperparts including middle pair of tail-feathers shining bronzy green; wing-quills and remaining rectrices fuscous with purplish reflections; tail do...

Tow’hee, as a name, is a manifest corruption of _tow heé_, or _to-hwi′_, an imitative word, after the bird’s most familiar note. Chewink′ is an attempt along the same line, but...

These Nuthatches must delight in work. They will spend a week in laborious excavation, and then abandon the claim for no apparent reason. Perhaps it is an outcropping of that sa...

According to popular opinion, the California Jay is a bird of bad reputation. Many people think he does nothing but go about wrecking the homes of other birds and feasting on th...

My friend, Dr. James Ball Naylor, of Malta, Ohio, tells the following story in answer to the oft-repeated question, Do animals reason? The poet’s house nestles against the base...

The nesting of the Varied Thrush was most fully brought to light by Mr. D. E. Brown, at Glacier, in the season of 1905. Like some tireless retriever, this ardent naturalist quar...

All times are killing time for this bloodthirsty fellow, and even in winter he “jerks” the meat not necessary for present consumption—be it chilly-footed mouse or palpitating Sp...

Description.—_Adult male_: Head and neck all around and breast shining black; remaining upperparts dull black with glossy patches, changing to brownish black or fuscous on wings...

I have never heard the Gray Jay titter more than a soft cooing _whee ew_ repeated at random; but Bendire credits it with a near approach to song[8]; and Mrs. Bailey says of the...

This bird will not tarry with us, unless it may choose to haunt the solitudes of the Olympics. In the vicinity of Sitka, however, Mr. J. Grinnell reports the species as “very co...

Once when the bird-man was camping on the Snoqualmie trail, this crimson vision appeared at the edge of a clearing, and proceeded to inspect our plant approvingly; and while the...

The _tchip_ note of the Myrtle Warbler is indistinguishable from that of _D. auduboni_, but a single glimpse of the white throat is sufficient to establish identity. Those seen...

The true Yellow-shafted Flicker, the familiar bird of the Eastern States, is occasionally taken as a straggler during the fall migrations. Mr. D. E. Brown took a typical specime...

Some specimens we get on Puget Sound are no larger than typical _Western_ Savanna, but are more strongly and brightly colored—handsome enough to be _sandwichensis_ proper. Are t...

Seventy-eight days later, viz., on the 23d of August, a southward bound party visited our orchard. The males were still in song, and it was difficult to believe that all the joy...

General Range.—Western interior districts of United States and Canada; breeding from North Dakota and Manitoba west to interior of British Columbia and southward to Nevada, Utah...

The nest is quite a substantial affair tho rather roughly put together, of fir twigs, rootlets, and moss, with a more or less heavy lining of horse- or cow-hair, and other soft...

Juncoes, moreover, are erratic in their migrations, and in the West, at least, tend to become non-migratory. While Oregon Juncoes are the common winter birds of Puget Sound, Shu...

Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. _Nest_: a bulky affair of twigs and grasses, lined with feathers and placed in trees and bushes. _Eggs_: 4-6, pale blue, dotted and speckl...

Nesting.—_Nest_: shaped like a cocoanut, of reeds and grasses, lined with plant-down, and with entrance in side; placed two or three feet high in reeds, rarely, high in bushes o...

Produced by Bryan Ness, Stephen Hutcheson, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by T...

“The way of any bird in the air commands interest, but the way of the Swift provokes both admiration and astonishment. With volitatorial powers which are unequaled by any other...

Description.—_Adult male_: Tips of mandibles crossed either way; plumage red, brightest on rump; feathers of back with brownish centers; wings and tail fuscous. Shade of red ver...

The tower and dive of the Calliope Hummer produces at its climax a squeak of the tiniest and shrillest quality. It is a sight well worth seeing when one of these elfin gallants,...

Tired of the confinement of the nest, the ambitious fledgelings clamber up the sides and perch upon the brim. From this less secure position they are not infrequently dislodged...

Authorities.—? _Vireo solitarius_, Ornithological Committee, Journ. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila., VII. 1837, 193 (Columbia River). _V. solitarius_ Vieillot, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv....

One can readily guess a utilitarian consideration in favor of ranch life, viz., the greater variety and abundance of insects afforded. Of these the Kingbirds enjoy a practical m...

General Range.—“The whole of Alaska, including (and breeding on) the Pribilof and Aleutian Islands, Unalaska, and the Shumagins; east to Fort Simpson, south in winter thru more...

Brewer’s Sparrow is of the sage sagey, and its range in Washington is almost exactly co-extensive with the distribution of that doughty shrub; but it is of record that _Spizella...

When I had descended,—singing and whistling right merrily snatches of songs once popular, “Sweet Marie,” and the like, for my spirits were uncommon high,—the mother-bird returne...

For nesting sites the Wrens avail themselves of cubby-holes and crannies in upturned roots or fallen logs, and fire-holes in half-burned stumps. A favorite situation is one of t...

At no time does the absorptive power of our matchless Puget Sound cover appear to greater advantage than during the migration of the Fox Sparrows. However they may choose to mov...

If one were to write a book about the blessings of common things, an early chapter must needs be devoted to the Song Sparrow. How blessed a thing it is that we do not all of us...

Coarse grass, stunted bushes, water, and sunshine seem to be the chief requirements of this very individual bird. To obtain the first-named, especially if represented by his fav...

It seems uncalled-for. The bird does not appear to be unhappy. Flycatching is good, and the Pewee cocks his head quite cheerfully as he returns to his perch after a successful f...

But the chief reward of this labor of love has been the sense of fellowship engendered. The progress of the work under what seemed at times insuperable difficulties has been, ne...

It is not quite clear whether the bird usually seizes or spears its prey, altho it is certain that it sometimes does the latter. The story is told of a Kingfisher which, spying...