Citizen Bird Part 30

The Vesper Sparrow

Length six inches.

Upper parts brown, streaked with dusty; some bright bay on the wings, but no yellow anywhere, and two white tail-feathers.

Under parts dull-white, striped on breast and sides with brown.

A Citizen of North America from Canada southward, nesting north of the Middle States.

A regular member of the guild of Weed Warriors, and in summer belonging also to the Seed Sowers and Ground Gleaners.

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW.

(THE PEABODY BIRD)

"The White-throat is another bird that you will not see in his summer home, unless you look for him in the Northern States. You may find him nesting about the White Mountains, on or near the ground, with the Olive-backed Thrush and Winter Wren. In other places he may be seen as a visitor any time in spring and autumn, or may even linger about the whole winter. You remember the dead one Nat found, that we used when I was teaching you something about birds in general that rainy day, before I began to tell you the particular bird stories.

"If you think of Sparrows only as a sober, dusty-colored family, you may be surprised to learn that this large, handsome bird, with the white throat, the head striped with black and white, a yellow spot over the eye, and richly variegated brown feathers, is a member of that group."

"It bothered me dreadfully at first," said Rap, "until one fall some sportsmen, who came through the upper fields looking for Quail, whistled his song and told me about him. There were lots of them here early this spring by the mill, but the miller didn't like them because they pitched into his new-sown pasture and gobbled the gra.s.s-seed."

"Yes, of course they eat gra.s.s-seed in spring, when the old weed seeds of autumn are well scattered; but surely we must give a Citizen Bird some good valuable food, not treating him like a pauper whom we expect to live always on refuse.

"Some morning in early spring, when the Chickadees who have wintered about the Farm are growing restless, and about ready to go to a more secluded spot to nest, you will hear a sweet persuasive whistling song coming from a clump of bushes. What is it? Not a Bluebird, or a Robin.

The notes are too short and simple for a Song Sparrow or a Thrush, too plaintive for a Wren, and too clear for a lisping Wood Warbler.

[Ill.u.s.tration: White-Throated Sparrow.]

"Presently several White-throats fly down to a bit of newly seeded lawn or patch of wild gra.s.s, where they feed industriously for a few minutes, giving only a few little call-notes--'t'sip, t'sip'--by way of conversation. Then one flies up into a bush and sings in a high key. What does he say--for the song of two short bars surely has words? One person understands it one way, and thinks the bird says 'all-day whittling, whittling, whittling!' Some one else hears 'pe-a--peabody--peabody--peabody!' While to me the White-throat always says '_I_ work--cleverly, cleverly, cleverly--por me--cleverly, cleverly, cleverly!'"

As the Doctor paused a moment, Rap whistled an imitation of the song, throwing the sound far from him after a fas.h.i.+on that the Chat has, so that it seemed to come from the trees, completely deceiving Dodo.

"Uncle, uncle!" she whispered, creeping softly up to him, "one of the White-throats must have stayed until now, for that bird says 'cleverly!

cleverly! cleverly!'"

Rap was delighted at the success of his imitation, and Nat and Dodo tried to whistle with him, Dodo being the most successful.

"Oh! oh! what happens to whistling girls?" said Nat, who was a little provoked at her success.

"Nothing at all," said Olive, "when they only whistle bird-songs. I've whistled to birds ever since I could pucker up my lips, and father taught me how--didn't you, father dear? Only you used to say, 'Never whistle in public places.'"

"I believe I did; and Rap shall teach you, Dodo, so you can call a bird close to you by imitating its song."

The White-throated Sparrow

Length about six and a half inches.

Striped on the back with bay, black, and gray; two white crossbars on each wing, the edge of which is yellow; two white stripes on the black crown, and a yellow spot before the eye.

Gray below, more slate-colored on the breast, with a pure white throat, which is bounded by little black streaks.

A Summer Citizen of the Northern States and beyond. Spends the winter in the Middle and Southern States.

Belongs to the guild of Weed Warriors, and is a bright, cheerful, useful bird.

THE CHIPPING SPARROW

(THE CHIPPY. THE SOCIABLE BIRD)

"I know a Chippy now, when I see it, before you tell us anything about it!" said Dodo gleefully. "There were three or four dear little ones yesterday on the gra.s.s, near the dining-room window. They had velvety brown caps on, and said 'chip, chip, chip' as they hopped along, and as they didn't seem afraid of me I threw out some bread-crumbs and they picked them up. Then I knew, to begin with, that they must be seed-eating birds."

"How did you know that?" asked Nat. "Bread-crumbs aren't seeds!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Chipping Sparrow.]

"No, but bread is made of ground-up wheat-seed! Don't you remember Olive said so last week when she told us about all the grains?"

"Yes," said Nat reluctantly.

"Birds that won't eat seeds won't eat bread-crumbs either," continued Dodo earnestly; "'cause I tried Wood Thrushes with bread-crumbs last week and they simply turned up their noses at them."

Rap and Nat laughed at the idea of birds turning up their noses, but the Doctor said:

"Very good indeed, Miss Dodo, you are learning to use your eyes and your reason at the same time. Tell us some more about your Chippies."

"At first I didn't know what they were, and then they seemed like some kind of Sparrows; so I went to the wonder room and looked at some of the books that you left out on the low shelf for us. I couldn't find any picture that matched, but then I began to read about Sparrows, and when I came to Chippy Sparrow I was sure it matched; for the book said it was a clever little fellow with a jaunty red cap that came with his mate to the very door and that children make the Chippy's acquaintance and hunt in the vines on the piazza or in a bush for its nest and that the nest is very neat and made of horsehair--" Here Dodo stopped to get her breath.

"Bravo! bravo!" called the Doctor. "I see that I shall soon have to resign my place as Bird Man if this young lady takes to bird hunting and reading also. Is there more to come, little one?"

"Yes, Uncle Roy, just a little bit more. Because the book said children looked for Chippies' nests I went right away to see if I could find one.

First I hunted in all the bushes, and the Catbirds scolded me and the Brown Thrasher in the barberry bush was very mad and a Robin in the low crotch of the bell-pear tree nearly tipped his nest over, he flew away in such a hurry. I thought I had better stop, but by this time I was way down in the garden and all at once I saw a Chippy fly straight into the big rose bush at the beginning of our arbor. I looked in and there about as high up as my chin was the loveliest little nest like a nice gra.s.s cup, with pretty rosebuds all around it for a tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, and on it sat a Chippy--and do you know it never flew away when I stroked its back with my finger! It was so cute and friendly I thought I would give it a little mite of a kiss on top of its head. But I guess it misunderstood and thought I meant to bite, for it flew off a little way and I saw three speckled blue eggs and--then I thought I'd better come away."

"Did you hear it sing?" asked Nat.

"No--it only said 'chip--chippy--chip.'"

"Chippies have two songs," said the Doctor. "One is a kind of chirp or trill like an insect's note--'trr-r-r-r-r.' They give this usually when they first wake up in the morning. The other is a pretty little melody, but is less frequently heard."

"If they eat seed, why don't they stay here all winter?" asked Rap; "yet I'm sure they don't."

"They are not as hardy as some of their brothers, and do not like our winter weather; but even in autumn you may mistake them for some other Sparrow, for then Mr. Chippy takes off his brown velvet cap, and his dainty little head is stripped."

The Chipping Sparrow

Length about five inches.