ROCKIES***


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[Illustration: PREPARING BREAKFAST (Two adult Chipping Sparrows breaking
worm into pieces to feed young.)]




BIRD GUIDE

LAND BIRDS EAST OF THE ROCKIES

From Parrots to Bluebirds

by

CHESTER A. REED

Author of
North American Birds' Eggs, and, with Frank M. Chapman, of Color Key to
North American Birds. Curator in Ornithology, Worcester Natural History
Society.







Garden City    New York
Doubleday, Page & Company
1919

Copyrighted, 1906, 1909 by Chas. K. Reed.




                                PREFACE


[Illustration: Chickadee]

The native birds are one of our nation's most valuable assets. Destroy
them, and in a comparatively few years the insects will have multiplied
to such an extent that trees will be denuded of their foliage, plants
will cease to thrive and crops cannot be raised. This is not fancy but
plain facts. Look at the little Chickadee on the side of this page. She
was photographed while entering a bird box, with about twenty-five plant
lice to feed her seven young; about two hundred times a day, either she
or her mate, made trips with similar loads to feed the growing
youngsters.

It has been found, by observation and dissection, that a Cuckoo consumes
daily from 50 to 400 caterpillars or their equivalent, while a Chickadee
will eat from 200 to 500 insects or up to 4,000 insect or worm eggs. 100
insects a day is a conservative estimate of the quantity consumed by each
individual insectivorous bird. By carefully estimating the birds in
several areas, I find that, in Massachusetts, there are not less than
five insect-eating birds per acre. Thus this state with its 8,000 square
miles has a useful bird population of not less than 25,600,000, which,
for each day's fare, requires the enormous total of 2,560,000,000
insects. That such figures can be expressed in terms better understood,
it has been computed that about 120,000 average insects fill a bushel
measure. This means that the daily consumption, of chiefly obnoxious
insects, in Massachusetts is 21,000 bushels. This estimate is good for
about five months in the year, May to September, inclusive; during the
remainder of the year, the insects, eggs and larvae destroyed by our
Winter, late Fall and early Spring migrants will be equivalent to nearly
half this quantity.

It is the duty, and should be the pleasure, of every citizen to do all in
his or her power to protect these valuable creatures, and to encourage
them to remain about our homes. The author believes that the best means
of protection is the disseminating of knowledge concerning them, and the
creating of an interest in their habits and modes of life. With that
object in view, this little book is prepared. May it serve its purpose
and help those already interested in the subject, and may it be the
medium for starting many others on the road to knowledge of our wild,
feathered friends.

                                                        CHESTER A. REED.

  Worcester, Mass.,
    October 1 1905.




                              INTRODUCTION


It is an undisputed fact that a great many of our birds are becoming more
scarce each year, while a few are, even now, on the verge of extinction.
The decrease in numbers of a few species may be attributed chiefly to the
elements, such as a long-continued period of cold weather or ice storms
in the winter, and rainy weather during the nesting season; however, in
one way or another, and often unwittingly, man is chiefly responsible for
the diminution in numbers. If I were to name the forces that work against
the increase of bird life, in order of their importance, I should give
them as: Man; the elements; accidents; cats; other animals; birds of
prey; and snakes. I do not take into consideration the death of birds
from natural causes, such as old age and disease, for these should be
counterbalanced by the natural increase.

There are parts that each one of us can play in lessening the unnatural
dangers that lurk along a bird's path in life. Individually, our efforts
may amount to but little, perhaps the saving of the lives of two or
three, or more, birds during the year, but collectively, our efforts will
soon be felt in the bird-world.

How Can We Protect the Birds?--Nearly all states have fairly good game
laws, which, if they could be enforced, would properly protect our birds
from man, but they cannot be; if our boys and girls are educated to
realize the economic value of the birds, and are encouraged to study
their habits, the desire to shoot them or to rob them of their eggs will
be very materially lessened. It is a common practice for some farmers to
burn their land over in the Spring, usually about nesting time. Three
years ago, and as far back of that as I can remember, a small ravine or
valley was teeming with bird life; it was the most favored spot that I
know of, for the variety and numbers of its bird tenants. Last year,
toward the end of May, this place was deliberately burned over by the
owner. Twenty-seven nests that I know of, some with young, others with
eggs, and still others in the process of construction, were destroyed,
besides hundreds of others that I had never seen. This year the same
thing was done earlier in the season, and not a bird nested here, and,
late in Summer, only a few clumps of ferns have found courage to appear
above the blackened ground. Farmers also cut off a great many patches of
underbrush that might just as well have been left, thus, for lack of
suitable places for their homes, driving away some of their most valuable
assistants. The cutting off of woods and forests is an important factor
in the decrease of bird life, as well as upon the climate of the country.

Our winter birds have their hardships when snow covers the weed tops, and
a coating of ice covers the trees, so that they can neither get seeds nor
grubs. During the nesting season, we often have long-continued rains
which sometimes cause an enormous loss of life to insect-eating birds and
their young. In 1903, after a few weeks' steady rain and damp weather,
not a Purple Martin could be found in Worcester County, nor, as far as I
know, in New England; they were wholly unable to get food for either
themselves or their young, and the majority of them left this region. The
Martin houses, when cleaned out, were found to contain young, eggs, and
some adults that had starved rather than desert their family. The Martins
did not return in 1904 or 1905.

Birds are subject to a great many accidents, chiefly by flying into
objects at night. Telephone and telegraph wires maim or kill thousands,
while lighthouses and steeples often cause the ground to be strewn with
bodies during migrations. Other accidents are caused by storms, fatigue
while crossing large bodies of water, nests falling from trees because of
an insecure support, and ground nests being trod upon by man, horses, and
cattle.

In the vicinity of cities, towns, villages, or farms, one of the most
fertile sources of danger to bird life is from cats. Even the most gentle
household pet, if allowed its liberty out of doors, will get its full
quota of birds during the year, while homeless cats, and many that are
not, will average several hundred birds apiece during the season. After
years of careful observation, Mr. E. H. Forbush, Mass., state
ornithologist, has estimated that the average number of birds killed, per
cat population, is about fifty. If a dog kills sheep or deer, he is shot
and the owner has to pay damages; if a man is caught killing a bird, he
pays a fine; but cats are allowed to roam about without restriction,
leaving death and destruction in their wake. All homeless cats should be
summarily dealt with, and all pets should be housed, at least from May
until August, when the young birds are able to fly.

Of wild animals, Red Squirrels are far the most destructive to young
birds and eggs; Chipmunks and Grays are also destructive but not nearly
as active or impudent as the Reds. Skunks, Foxes, and Weasels are smaller
factors in the decrease of bird life.

Birds of prey have but little to do with the question of bird protection
for, with a few exceptions, they rarely feed upon other birds, and nearly
all of them are of considerable economic value themselves. Jays, Crows,
and Grackles, by devouring the eggs and young of our smaller birds, are a
far greater menace than are the birds of prey, but even these have their
work and should be left in the place that Nature intended for them; they
should, however, be taught to keep away from the neighborhood of houses.

How Can We Attract Birds About Our Homes?--Many birds prefer to live in
the vicinity of houses, and they soon learn where they are welcome. Keep
your premises as free as possible from cats, dogs, and especially English
Sparrows, and other birds will come. Robins, Orioles, Kingbirds, Waxwings
and a few others will nest in orchard trees, while in dead limbs or bird
boxes will be found Bluebirds, Wrens, Swallows, Woodpeckers, Chickadees,
etc.

A house for Purple Martins may contain many apartments; it should be
erected in an open space, on a ten or twelve foot pole. Boxes for other
birds should have but one compartment, and should be about six by six by