Citizen Bird Part 56

"What can be the matter with all those Sea Swallows on the other side of the island?" asked Nat as they walked across, and a flock of a hundred or more Terns angled by, crying mournfully. "What a very sad noise they are making--do you think they are afraid of us?"

"They have reason enough to cry and be sad," answered Olaf, who was walking on, a little way ahead. "They have been driven from almost all these islands--shot for their pretty feathers, and had their nests robbed. There wouldn't be any here now, only that some people pay the light-keeper at the little island yonder to see that the law is kept and that no one hunts them here. See! He is coming over now to find out what we are doing here!"

"Who are the people that pay him, Uncle Roy?"' asked Dodo; "the Wise Men?"

[Ill.u.s.tration: Common Tern.]

"Yes, the Wise Men, and some Wise Women too. You can give a part of the money in your tin bank to help the poor birds if you wish."

"Oh yes--that is--I forgot," and Dodo whispered in her uncle's ear that she, as well as Nat, was saving money to buy Rap a _whole_ bird book for Christmas.

"It seems to be a very open place for nests, out here on the sand," said Rap. "I suppose the little Gulls and Terns must be hatched with down-feathers on." "Yes--though they are not able to take care of themselves as quickly as young Ducks. But as soon as they can leave the nest, they walk down to the water's edge and eat a sort of gluey stuff that floats in on the water. So you see that unless the law protected them they might be very easily stolen or destroyed before their wings were strong enough to fly."

"It must be very cold for them here in the winter."

"It would be if they were obliged to stay; but both Gulls and Terns scatter all over the country to winter, though the Terns travel much further south."

By this time the lighthouse keeper had made his way over to them.

Finding who they were, he invited them to bring their luncheon and row over to Little Gull Island with him, to see the lighthouse.

There was a dancing breeze when they turned homeward that afternoon; the boat canted saucily, and little feathers of spray kept tickling Dodo's nose.

"Are there any more water birds that we are likely to see this fall?"

asked Nat, as the Gull Islands disappeared behind them.

"There will be great flocks of Wild Geese coming down from the North, and they often rest on the mill pond; or a Loon may chance down the river, and a Grebe or two."

"Are Geese Ducks?" asked Dodo, and then laughed with the others at the question.

"Not precisely--no more than rats are mice," said the Doctor; "but both Ducks and Geese belong to the same family."

"And what are the others--the Loons and Grubs--are they wading or swimming birds?" "_Grebes,_ not grubs," laughed the Doctor. "Loons and Grebes are swimming birds, like Ducks or Gulls, but both belong to quite a different order from any of the others and each of them belongs to a family of its own. They can barely move at all on land, and spend all their lives on the water, excepting in the nesting season, when they make curious floating nests of dead herbage in reedy marshes. Their logs are placed in such a backward position that they can sit upright in the water and swim as if they were walking, only keeping the tip of the bill above the surface."

"How can they get away if any one hunts them?" asked Rap.

"They can dive at the flash of a gun and swim long distances under water. Our familiar Pied-billed Grebe or Dabchick disappears so suddenly, that 'Water Witch' is one of its common names."

"What a lot of birds there are to watch for this fall!" said Nat very anxiously. "I only wish I knew how much more time we shall have before father and mother come for us."

[Ill.u.s.tration: Loon.]

"Why, there is one of the men from the Farm with a team," said Rap, as they tacked close to the beach half an hour later. "He is waving a letter or something, I think."

It did not take the party long to land, or the Doctor to read his letter, which said that Nat's and Dodo's parents were coming to the Farm in a couple of days.

"So we must go home to-morrow," said the Doctor.

"I want to see mother awfully much," said Dodo, "and father too; but don't you think if you told them bird stories, Uncle Roy, you might be able to coax them to make you a long visit before they take us home?"

"_I_ think father would rather go up to the logging camp, and see the c.o.o.ns that Rap says they catch there in the fall; there are red foxes, too, he says, and little fur beasts."

The Doctor did not give them a very satisfactory answer; but if they had looked they would have seen a merry twinkle in his eye. And Dodo, who had learned not to tease during her happy summer, nestled up to Olive and said, "I smell a secret somewhere, but I can wait; for I know that hereabouts secrets are always nice surprises."

When five more tables had been written--the last ones Uncle Roy gave the children this summer--they were like this:

The Canada Goose

Length three feet or more.

Body brown above, gray below, with black head, neck, tail, and long feathers of the wings, the tail white at the roots above and below, the head with a large white patch like a napkin folded under the chin.

Bill and feet black, the toes webbed like a Duck's or tame Goose's; but the wild Canada Goose is not the kind that our tame Geese came from.

A Citizen of North America, and a great traveller in spring and fall, when flocks fly high overhead in a wedge-shaped figure or in a long line, with one old Gander leading, and all crying "honk, honk, honk!"

The nest is placed on the ground, sometimes on a tree or cliff, in various parts of the United States and Canada. The flesh is excellent for the table if the roast Goose is a young tender one, but beware of an elderly Wild Goose!

[Ill.u.s.tration: Canada Goose]

The American Herring Gull

Length two feet.

Plumage pure white, with a pearly-blue mantle on the back and wings, the long feathers of the wings marked with black.

Bill yellow, with a red spot, stout and hooked at the end. Feet flesh-colored, the front toe webbed like a Duck's or Goose's, but the hind toe very short indeed.

In winter the head and neck streaked with gray. Young birds all patched with gray and black, the bill black.

A Citizen of North America, and a member of the guild of Sea Sweepers.

He nests in summer in the Northern States, and in the fall travels south. He can sleep standing on one leg or floating on the water. His nest is usually built on the ground, but sometimes in a tree. He goes fis.h.i.+ng and clamming for a living.

The Common Tern or Sea Swallow

Length thirteen to sixteen inches, according to the length of the tail, which is deeply forked with slender outside feathers, like a Barn Swallow's.

Plumage pure white, with a black cap on the head, a pearl-blue mantle, and silver-black shades on the long wing-feathers, which look as if they had h.o.a.r frost on them.

Bill coral-red with a black tip, slender and very sharp, without any hook at the end. Feet coral-red, very small and weak, the front toes webbed like a Gull's.

Young ones are patched with various colors before they grow their pearly, snowy, and jet-black feathers.

A Citizen of North America, chiefly its eastern portions, who travels far north in spring and far south in fall. He nests in large colonies on the sand or s.h.i.+ngle of beaches, and cries very sadly when House People come to steal the eggs or kill the young ones. He belongs to the guild of Sea Sweepers, and eats little fishes.

The Loon or Great Northern Diver