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bird neighbors-第23章

小说: bird neighbors 字数: 每页4000字

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w Jersey。 Pennsylvania is still favored with one now and then; but it is in the Southwest only that the blue grosbeak is as common as the evening grosbeak is in the Northwest。 Since rice is its favorite food; it naturally abounds where that cereal grows。 Seeds and kernels of the hardest kinds; that its heavy; strong beak is well adapted to crack; constitute its diet when it strays beyond the rice…fields。

Possibly the heavy bills of all the grosbeaks make them look stupid whether they are or not  a characteristic that the blue grosbeak's habit of sitting motionless with a vacant stare many minutes at a time unfortunately emphasizes。

When seen in the roadside thickets or tall weeds; such as the field sparrow chooses to frequent; it shows little fear of man unless actually approached and threatened; but whether this fearlessness comes from actual confidence or stupidity is by no means certain。 Whatever the motive of its inactivity; it accomplishes an end to be desired by the cleverest bird; its presence is almost never suspected by the passer…by; and its grassy nest on a tree…branch; containing three or four pale bluish…white eggs; is never betrayed by look or sign to the marauding small boy。


BARN SWALLOW (Chelidon erythrogaster) Swallow family

Length  6。5 to 7 inches。 A trifle larger than the English   sparrow。 Apparently considerably larger; because of its wide   wingspread。 Male  Glistening steel…blue shading to black above。 Chin;   breast; and underneath bright chestnut…brown and brilliant buff   that glistens in the sunlight。 A partial collar of steel…blue。   Tail very deeply forked and slender。 Female  Smaller and paler; with shorter outer tail feathers;   making the fork less prominent。 Range  Throughout North America。 Winters in tropics of both   Americas。 Migrations  April。 September。 Summer resident。

Any one who attempts to describe the coloring of a bird's plumage knows how inadequate words are to convey a just idea of the delicacy; richness; and brilliancy of the living tints。 But; happily; the beautiful barn swallow is too familiar to need description。 Wheeling about our barns and houses; skimming over the fields; its bright sides flashing in the sunlight; playing 〃cross tag〃 with its friends at evening; when the insects; too; are on the wing; gyrating; darting; and gliding through the air; it is no more possible to adequately describe the exquisite grace of a swallow's flight than the glistening buff of its breast。 

This is a typical bird of the air; as an oriole is of the trees and a sparrow of the ground。 Though the swallow may often be seen perching on a telegraph wire; suddenly it darts off as if it had received a shock of electricity; and we see the bird in its true element。

While this swallow is peculiarly American; it is often confounded with its European cousin Hirundo rustica in noted ornithologies。

Up in the rafters of the barn; or in the arch of an old bridge that spans a stream; these swallows build their bracket…like nests of clay or mud pellets intermixed with straw。 Here the noisy little broods pick their way out of the white eggs curiously spotted with brown and lilac that were all too familiar in the marauding days of our childhood。


CLIFF SWALLOW (Petrochelidon lunifrons) Swallow family

Called also: EAVE SWALLOW; CRESCENT SWALLOW; ROCKY MOUNTAIN   SWALLOW

Length  6 inches。 A trifle smaller than the English sparrow。   Apparently considerably larger because of its wide wingspread。 Male and Female  Steel…blue above; shading to blue…black on   crown of head and on wings and tail。 A brownish…gray ring   around the neck。 Beneath dusty white; with rufous tint。   Crescent…like frontlet。 Chin; throat; sides of head; and tail   coverts rufous。 Range  North and South America。 Winters in the tropics。 Migrations  Early April。 Late September。 Summer resident。

Not quite so brilliantly colored as the barn swallow; nor with tail so deeply forked; and consequently without so much  grace in flying; and with a squeak rather than the really musical twitter of the gayer bird; the cliff swallow may be positively identified by the rufous feathers of its tail coverts; but more definitely by its crescent…shaped frontlet shining like a new moon; hence its specific Latin name from luna = moon; and frons = front。

Such great numbers of these swallows have been seen in the far West that the name of Rocky Mountain swallows is sometimes given to them; though however rare they may have been in 1824; when DeWitt Clinton thought he 〃discovered〃 them near Lake Champlain; they are now common enough in all parts of the United States。

In the West this swallow is wholly a cliff…dweller; but it has learned to modify its home in different localities。 As usually seen; it is gourd…shaped; opened at the top; built entirely of mud pellets (〃bricks without straw〃); softly lined with feathers and wisps of grass; and attached by the larger part to a projecting cliff or eave。

Like all the swallows; this bird lives in colonies; and the clay…colored nests beneath the eaves of barns are often so close together that a group of them resembles nothing so much as a gigantic wasp's nest。 It is said that when swallows pair they are mated for life; but; then; more is said about swallows than the most tireless bird…lover could substantiate。 The tradition that swallows fly low when it is going to rain may be easily credited; because the air before a storm is usually too heavy with moisture for the winged insects; upon which the swallows feed; to fly high。


MOURNING DOVE (Zenaidura macroura) Pigeon family

Called also: CAROLINA DOVE; TURTLE DOVE

Length  12 to 13 inches。 About one…half as large again as the   robin。 Male  Grayish brown or fawn…color above; varying to bluish   gray。 Crown and upper part of head greenish blue; with green   and golden metallic reflections on sides of neck。 A black spot   under each ear。 Forehead and breast reddish buff; lighter   underneath。 (General impression of color; bluish fawn。) Bill   black; with tumid; fleshy covering; feet red; two middle tail   feathers longest; all others banded with black and tipped with   ashy white。 Wing coverts sparsely spotted with black。 Flanks   and underneath the wings bluish。 Female  Duller and without iridescent reflections on neck。 Range  North America; from Quebec to Panama; and westward to   Arizona。 Most common in temperate climate; east of Rocky   Mountains。 Migrations  March。 November。 Common summer resident not   Migratory south of Virginia。

The beautiful; soft…colored plumage of this incessant and rather melancholy love…maker is not on public exhibition。 To see it we must trace the a…coo…o; coo…o; coo…oo; coo…o to its source in the thick foliage in some tree in an out…of…the…way corner of the farm; or to an evergreen near the edge of the woods。 The slow; plaintive notes; more like a dirge than a love…song; penetrate to a surprising distance。 They may not always be the same lovers we hear from April to the end of summer; but surely the sound seems to indicate that they are。 The dove is a shy bird; attached to its gentle and refined mate with a devotion that has passed into a proverb; but caring little or nothing for the society of other feathered friends; and very little for its own kind; unless after the nesting season has passed。 In this respect it differs widely from its cousins; the wild pigeons; flocks of which; numbering many millions; are recorded by Wilson and other early writers before the days when netting these birds became so fatally profitable。

What the dove finds to adore so ardently in the 〃shiftless housewife;〃 as Mrs。 Wright calls his lady…love; must pass the comprehension of the phoebe; that constructs such an exquisite home; or of a bustling; energetic Jenny wren; that 〃looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness。〃 She is a flabby; spineless bundle of flesh and pretty feathers; gentle and refined in manners; but slack and incompetent in all she does。 Her nest consists of few loose sticks。 without rim or lining; and when her two babies emerge from the white eggs; that somehow do not fall through or roll out of the rickety lattice; their tender little naked bodies must suffer from m

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