Part 3

Where is the country boy or girl who does not know the "woolly bear," or "porcupine caterpillar," the chunky, hairy, rufous and black-banded caterpillar, that curls up when touched and does not uncoil until danger is over? They are the larvæ of the Isabella moth, and the reason for their appearance on the railroad tracks and wagon roads, is that they have just finished hibernating and are now looking for a suitable place to retire and change to chrysalides and then into moths.

April Twentieth

In the Northern States, where the red-headed woodpecker is not very common, it is apt to be confused with other species of woodpeckers. The red-headed woodpecker is _scarlet down to its shoulders_. The eastern woodpeckers that have the red crescent on the back of the head are flicker, downy, and hairy woodpeckers.

April Twenty-first

The gardener, while spading about the roots of a tree, will often throw out a number of white, chunky grubs, about the size of the first joint of one's little finger. These are the larvæ of the June, or May beetle. In the fall, they dig below frost line, where they remain until the following spring. After three years of this life, they emerge from the ground in May and June, perfect beetles.

Notes

April Twenty-second

The myrtle, or yellow-rumped warbler, which spends the winter from Massachusetts, south, into the West Indies and Central America, and nests usually north of the United States, is very common now. It is found in scattered flocks. If in doubt of its identity, look for the yellow patch on the crown, and on the rump.

April Twenty-third

The dainty little spring beauty, or claytonia, is another of the early blooming flowers. "We look for the spring beauty in April or May, and often find it in the same moist places--on a brook's edge or skirting of wet woods--as the yellow adder's tongue." (Dana.)

April Twenty-fourth

Toads are now beginning to leave their winter beds, in the leaves, under stones and the like. Did you ever tie a piece of red cloth on a string, dangle it over a toad's head, to see him follow and snap at it? Toads exude a strong acid secretion from the pores of the skin, which is distasteful to most predatory animals, excepting the snakes.

Notes

April Twenty-fifth

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is the only member of the woodpecker family whose presence is objectionable. His habit of puncturing the bark of trees and then visiting the cups to catch the sap, is well known. At any time of the year, row after row of these holes may be seen on fruit-trees (usually apple and pear)--written evidence of his guilt. See if you can catch him in the act.

April Twenty-sixth

Turkey buzzards, or vultures, are repulsive and ungainly when on the ground, but they are by far the most graceful of all our large birds when in flight. They are rarely seen in New England, or in the Northern States of the Middle Atlantic group, but in the South they are common throughout the year. Mounting high in the air, they circle 'round and 'round with scarcely a flutter of the wings, but nervously tilting to right or left, like a tight-rope walker with his balancing pole.

April Twenty-seventh

This is about the time that young red foxes get their first sight of the wide, wide world. In the Southern States they have been prowling about with their parents for weeks; but north of New York City the farmer's boy, as he now goes for the cows in the morning, will frequently see a fox family playing about the entrance to their burrow.

Notes

April Twenty-eighth

So ruthlessly has the trailing arbutus, or "May-flower" as it is called in New England, been destroyed, that in places where it was once common, it is now almost extinct. Of its odor, Neltje Blanchan says: "Can words describe the fragrancy of the very breath of spring--that delicious commingling of the perfumes of arbutus, the odors of pines, and the snow-soaked soil just warming into life?"

April Twenty-ninth

Why are the robins so abundant? Because they are all pushing forward to their Northern nesting grounds. Even in Alaska you would find a few pairs that have made the long, perilous journey in safety, raising their young in the balsam-poplars along some glacial stream, while in Georgia and Florida, where large flocks of them winter, not one would now be seen.

April Thirtieth

If you will sow a few sunflower seeds in a corner of the garden and let the plants go to seed, in the fall you are sure to have feathered visitors in the shape of goldfinches, chickadees, and nuthatches. The nuthatches (no doubt thinking of the hard times to come) will carry the seeds away, and store them in the crevices of the bark of trees.

Notes

=May=

May First

Of uniform grayish color, swift in flight, and shaped like cigars with wings, the chimney swifts might well be called the torpedo boats of the air. They never alight outside of chimneys or old buildings, and are usually seen flying high above the house-tops. For hours they chase each other through the air, keeping up a continuous "_chip, chip, chip, chip, chip, chip_," whenever the participants of the game come near each other.

May Second

No sooner does the frost leave the ground, than the moles begin to work close to the surface, making ridges where the earth is soft, and throwing out small mounds, when it is packed firm. The star-nose mole inhabits damp soil, while the common mole likes the dry highlands. Although moles' eyes are small, he who thinks that they cannot see, should hold his finger before one's nose and see how quickly it will be bitten.

May Third

The marsh marigold, which grows in thick clusters in the swamps and along the streams, is now in full bloom. These flowers are often sold on the streets for "cowslips," a name wholly incorrect. The leaves make fine greens.

Notes

May Fourth

By this time one of your bird houses should be tenanted by a pair of house wrens. They migrate at night and the male arrives about a week in advance of his mate. Both birds assist in building the nest and in raising the young. As soon as the first brood has been reared, the lining of the nest is removed, and a new one built before the second set of six eggs is laid. Wrens may easily be tamed to take spiders and caterpillars (not the hairy ones) from the end of a stick and even from one's hand.

May Fifth

How much easier would be the work of nest building if we provided the birds with nesting material. Scatter strips of cloth, and pieces of coarse twine on the ground for the robins; hair from the tail and mane of horses for the chipping sparrows and wrens; twine and horse-hair for the orioles; bits of "waste" for the yellow warblers, and grapevine bark for the catbirds. None of these strands should be more than four inches long.

May Sixth

In some localities the shad-tree is now in full blossom. As you pause to cut off a few twigs, your ears are greeted by a never ceasing chorus of toad music. This is the toad's "love song"--a high-pitched, somewhat tremulous, and rather monotonous note.

Notes

May Seventh

Perched upon a stump, fence post, or low limb of a tree, the Bob-white sends forth his clear, far-reaching whistle "_Bob-white_." In the North this bird is known to every boy as Bob-white, or quail, while in the South he is called "partridge." The last two names are misnomers, for we have no native quails or partridges in this country.

May Eighth

The fronds of the sensitive fern resemble somewhat the leaves of the oak-tree, and in some localities it is called the oak-leaf fern. It is found in damp, shady spots, and is one of the common ferns of New England. The delicate, light green leaves wither soon after being picked, and it is the first of the ferns to fall under the touch of Jack Frost.

May Ninth

A low, squeaking sound made with the lips is understood by some birds as a signal of distress. Orioles, wrens, catbirds, cuckoos, warblers, vireos, robins, and many other birds may be called close to one, particularly if the intruder is near their nest. You should learn this trick, for often it is possible to coax a shy bird from a thicket in order that it may be identified.

Notes

May Tenth

In summer the most common of our Northern wood warblers, yet one of the most difficult to see, on account of its liking for the tops of the tall trees, is the black-throated green warbler. Its song is a cheerful, interrogative, "_Will you co-ome, will you co-ome, will you?_" (Wright), or "a droning zee, zee, ze-ee, zee." (Chapman and Reed.)

May Eleventh

Why is it that the usually frisky and noisy red squirrels have become so quiet? If you could look into the nest of dried grass and bark, in a hollow tree-trunk, or a deserted woodpecker's nest, you would understand their reason for not wishing to make their presence known. Keep close watch of the opening, and some day you will see several little heads appear, and in a few days a family of squirrels will be scrambling about the trees. Pretty and graceful as these squirrels are, they do great damage by destroying the eggs and young of birds.

May Twelfth

Wintering south of Central America, the veery, or Wilson's thrush, should now appear in the vicinity of Albany. "A weird rhythm" is the expression sometimes used to describe the song of this bird. Weird it certainly is, and beautiful, as well, coming from the depths of some sombre wood, growing more sombre still as the night falls.

Notes

May Thirteenth

The wood thrush is much larger than the veery, and easily distinguished from the six other species of true thrushes of North America, by the _large black spots on the breast, and the bright cinnamon head_. As you listened for the veery, you probably heard the wood thrush's pure liquid song--so far away that you could not catch the low after-notes. To me, the flute-like quality of the wood thrush's song makes it the most enchanting of all bird music.

May Fourteenth

At intervals during the day, a distinct booming sound is heard coming from the forests. At first the beats are slow and measured, but as they are repeated the time quickens, until they finally blend, and then gradually die away. This is the "drumming" of the ruffed grouse, produced by the cock bird beating with his wings against the sides of his body. At this time of the year it is his love song, but you can hear it at other seasons as well.

May Fifteenth

Visit again the locality where a week ago you heard so many toads, and what do you find? Long strings of gelatine-covered specks strewn on the bottom of the pond. These black spots are the eggs of the toad, and the gelatine is put around them to protect them and to furnish the first meal for the young polywogs.

Notes

May Sixteenth

To find a hummingbird's nest, snugly saddled on a branch of a maple or apple tree, ten feet or more above the ground, requires patience and keen eyesight. Unless you have seen one, you almost surely would mistake it for a bunch of lichens. It is a neat little structure of downy material covered with bits of lichens, fastened with spider and caterpillar webs.

May Seventeenth

It would interest you to visit a zoological park to study the growing antlers of a deer or an elk. A pair of black antlers, "in the velvet," as the hunters call it, have taken the place of the bony-colored ones shed in March. Just now they are somewhat flexible, and feverishly hot from the steady flow of blood that feeds them. If they are injured at this time, the owner might bleed to death.

May Eighteenth

"_Caw, caw, caw, ka, ka, ka, ka-k-k-k-r-r-r-r_." It sounds as though a crow were being strangled. Looking in that direction you see a large black bird fly from the woods to a meadow. After filling her beak with food she returns. No sooner is she within sight of the young crows, than they flap their wings, open their mouths and _caw_ until the stifled, guttural sounds tell you that the morsel is being swallowed.

Notes

May Nineteenth

When perched or flying the bobolink sends forth his jolly song in such a flood of ecstasy that you would scarcely be surprised to see him suddenly explode and vanish in a cloud of feathers. Would that we could overlook the damage he does to Southern rice crops.

May Twentieth

Before now you have noticed the dainty little Jack-in-the-pulpit in the damp, shady woods and marshes. Would you suppose that this innocent looking plant is really an insect trap? The thick fleshy "corm" when boiled is quite palatable, but who would think so after digging it from the ground, cutting into it, and feeling the sharp prickly sensation it gives when touched with the tongue?

May Twenty-first

The song of the brown thrasher can easily be mistaken for that of a catbird, particularly as both birds inhabit roadways, thickets, and open brush lots. The male, while singing to his mate, nearly always perches _in the top_ of a tall bush or tree. His song is a disconnected combination of pleasant musical tones, which might be arranged so as to sound thrush-like in effect, but they are usually uttered in pairs or trios, rather than in the modulated phrase of the hermit or the wood thrush.

Notes

May Twenty-second

Look intently at the bottom of shallow streams or ponds and you will see what appear to be small twigs and sandy lumps moving about like snails. These are the larvæ of the caddis fly. Pick up one and poke the creature with a straw. You now discover that it lives in a case made of gravel, or sand, or tiny shells, or pieces of bark, all glued together in a perfect mask.

May Twenty-third

Keep watch of any brown bird about the size and shape of a female English sparrow, that you see hopping about the trees and bushes, peeping under bridges, and looking into hollow limbs of trees. She is a cowbird, or cow bunting, looking for the nest of another bird who is away for the moment. When she finds one, she will slip into it and drop one of her eggs, which will be hatched and the birdling reared by the foster mother, unless she can manage to get rid of it.

May Twenty-fourth

The Greeks were persistent in their belief that the harmless red, or fire salamander, found only in damp and shady places, was insensible to heat. In reality the reverse is true. Its delicate skin cannot even withstand the sun's rays. During sunny days it hides under leaves and logs, coming forth only after storms, or at night.

Notes

May Twenty-fifth

If there are currant or gooseberry bushes about your grounds, you must know the yellow warbler, or summer yellowbird. He is the little chap, almost pure yellow, who hunts carefully under each leaf for the caterpillars that attack the bushes. The female lacks the reddish streaks on the under parts, and her crown is not as bright as that of the male. Do not confuse this bird with the male American goldfinch, which just now has a yellow body, but black crown, wings, and tail.

May Twenty-sixth

Quite unlike the strings of beady eggs of the toad, the eggs of the frogs are attached in a bulky mass to sticks or to the limbs of aquatic plants in sluggish or stagnant water. But there is the same gelatine-like casing around each black egg.

May Twenty-seventh

In the Northern States, where he nests, the redstart is often seen in the shade-trees along our streets, as well as in the groves and forests. "'_Ching, ching, chee; ser-wee, swee, swee-e-s_' he sings, and with wings and tail outspread whirls about, dancing from limb to limb, darts upward, floats downward, blows hither and thither like a leaf in the breeze." (Chapman.)

Notes

May Twenty-eighth

In the evening you often see a chimney swift (it is not a _swallow_) flying back and forth over dead tree-tops. Each time it pauses as though about to alight, but after what seems to be a momentary hesitation, it passes on. With a field-glass you might detect it snapping off the twigs and carrying them into an unused chimney, where it fastens them to the bricks with a glutinous saliva. One after another the twigs are glued together until a bracket-like basket is made, and in this the four white eggs are laid.

May Twenty-ninth

It is now time to look in the meadows for the dainty blue-eyed grass, or blue star; in the marshes for the purple or water avens, and the white hellebore, or Indian poke; and in the damp shady woods for the blossoming mandrake, or Mayapple.

May Thirtieth

Judging from the name, one might expect to find the pewee, or wood pewee, in the woods only, but his high plaintive "_P-e-w-e-e, p-e-w-e-e_," first rising, then falling, coming from the tops of the village shade-trees, is one of the last notes heard at the close of the day. Short as the song is, he frequently sings but half of it.

Notes

May Thirty-first

Birds are often great sufferers from heat. The open bill, drooping wings, and panting body, all testify to this fact. A bird sitting on an unshaded nest during a hot day is an object for our pity. Fill flower-pot saucers with fresh water, and place them in depressions about the grounds. The birds will get great relief from these drinking and bathing dishes, and your opportunity for observation will be increased.

Notes

=June=

June First

One night last summer, a moth laid a circular cluster of eggs at the end of a limb. Not many days ago the eggs hatched and the caterpillars have begun to spin a silk tent in the crotch of several branches. Every time these tent caterpillars (for that is their name) go out to feed upon the leaves, they spin a thread by which they find their way home. After they have eaten their fill, they will drop to the ground to seek a hiding-place and there turn into moths.

June Second

The fertile fronds of the cinnamon fern break ground before the sterile ones come up. They _appear_ to shoot from the centre of the crown-shaped cluster, and are light cinnamon color when mature. By the last of June the fertile fronds have withered, leaving only the sterile ones which the amateur is quite sure to confuse with the interrupted fern.

June Third

While driving in the country your attention is often drawn to the swallows that are flying about the barns. Two species are common, one has _two long tail feathers that fork_. This is the _barn swallow_, and his mate builds her nest _inside_ the barn, _on a rafter_ or _against the planking_. It is always _open on top_ and lined with soft material.

Notes

June Fourth

The eave swallow _lacks the forked tail_, and the rump is cinnamon-buff. Usually the female builds her globular shaped mud nest _under the eaves_ of an unpainted barn. Hundreds of mud pellets are neatly welded together and an opening is left in the front. As these swallows also build against cliffs, they are known as cliff swallows in some localities.

June Fifth

The nesting season is now at its height, and you will soon see young birds about the grounds. The old birds may be away looking for food. Let us remember that it is better to let Nature work out her own problems. Instead of catching the birdlings and forcing them to eat unnatural food (only to find them dead a few hours later), put them back into the nest when it is possible, or if they are strong enough, toss them into the air and let them flutter to the branches of a tree beyond the reach of cats.

June Sixth

This is about the time that turtles hunt for a sandy bank in which to make a depression where they may deposit their eggs--that look so much like ping-pong balls. The eggs are covered with sand and left for the sun to hatch. The young dig through the shallow covering and take to the water.

Notes

June Seventh

If you wish to see one of the most gorgeous of wood birds, the scarlet tanager, you must find him now, for, after the nesting season, he loses his black wings and tail and bright red dress, and dons the sober green hue of his mate. You will find him living in the maple groves, and the heavy forests of maple, oak, beech, and chestnut. His song, though not so loud as either, resembles both that of the robin and the rose-breasted grosbeak.

June Eighth

In the low-lying meadows, and in the marshes, the towering stems of the blue flag, or blue iris, have already blossomed. Nature has so constructed this handsome flower, that were it not for the visits of bees, and other insects, its seeds would remain unfertilized.

June Ninth

The orchard oriole is far from common north of the States parallel with southern New York. It migrates to Central America in winter, as does its cousin, the Baltimore oriole, who is named for Lord Baltimore. It lives in orchards, and you should look in apple and pear trees for its graceful pendent nest, built of the stems and blades of grass neatly woven together, like the nest of a weaver bird.

Notes

June Tenth

When by pure strategy you have outwitted a pair of bobolinks, and have succeeded in finding their nest, you have indeed achieved a triumph. To be successful, take your field-glasses, and secrete yourself near a meadow where you can watch a pair of bobolinks without being seen. Wait until one or both birds have made repeated trips to a certain spot, then with eyes riveted on the place, hurry forward, and as the bird rises, drop your hat on the spot and search carefully about it until the nest is found.

June Eleventh

The robin, song sparrow, vesper sparrow, chipping sparrow, phoebe, and house wren by this time have their first fledglings out of the nest. They usually raise two, and sometimes three broods in a season. While the father bird is busy caring for the youngsters, the mother is building another nest or laying a second set of eggs.

June Twelfth

In damp low-lying fields at this season, beds of bog cotton decorate the landscape. Its silken tassels sway gracefully in the breeze, and at a distance one could easily mistake them for true flowers.

Notes

June Thirteenth

Although the meadow lark and the flicker are about the same size, and each has a black patch on its breast, they need never be confused. The flight, as well as the difference in color, should help in their identification. The flicker's flight is undulating; while the meadow lark flies steadily, and the wings move rapidly between short periods of sailing. Again, the meadow lark's _outer tail feathers_ are white, while the flicker's _rump_ is white, both of which can be seen when the birds fly.

June Fourteenth

Visit the pool or waterway where you discovered the toad's eggs and you will find that they have hatched. The little black polliwogs, or tadpoles, have eaten their way out of the gelatine prison and are now schooled at the edge of the water. They subsist upon the decaying vegetation and minute animal life.

June Fifteenth

Our lawns are now the feeding ground of the first brood of young robins, great overgrown, gawky, mottle-breasted children, nearly as large as their parents. What a ludicrous sight it is to see them following their mother about, flapping their wings, opening their mouths, and begging for food every time she approaches them.

Notes

June Sixteenth

Leopard frogs and tiger frogs are often found in the tall grass a mile or so from water. Food is abundant and more easily caught in such places than along the streams. By the waterways the frog waits patiently for insects to pass, then springs at one with open mouth and, whether successful or not, he falls back into the water, swims ashore, and awaits another morsel.

June Seventeenth

A family of six young belted kingfishers perching on the edge of a bank, preparatory to taking their first flight, is a laughable sight indeed. Their immense helmet-like crests, their short legs, and their steel blue backs, give them a "cocky" appearance, and remind one of a squad of policemen on dress parade.

June Eighteenth