Birds and Nature, Vol. 10 No. 3 [October 1901]Various
History
Birds and Nature, Vol. 10 No. 3 [October 1901]
Various
Birds -- Periodicals; Natural history -- Periodicals
The song sparrow is one of the commonest of our birds, staying with us
nearly all the year. The name indicates to us that it has a sweet voice.
It begins to sing almost as early as the robin and will sing every hour
in the day and seems never to tire of singing. The song sparrow is about
the same size as the English sparrow.
Then there are the savanna sparrow and the seaside sparrow which are
fond of marshes, near the sea; and the white-crowned. This and the
white-throated sparrows are both fine singers and handsome birds. They
are larger than the English sparrow. The vesper sparrow has a fine
voice, singing late in the afternoon and evening. It is as fond of the
meadows as the field sparrow. The two birds are often taken for each
other, but if the vesper sparrow is watched when it flies, it will be
seen that it has white tail quills which the field sparrow does not
possess. Both are about the same size.
The winter chippy or tree sparrow is a winter bird, in the United States
appearing in the fall and flying away early in the spring. Its name
would indicate that it was fond of trees, but this is not the case, as
it is usually seen on the ground and even makes its nest there.
There are many other members of the sparrow family, but this is enough
for to-day. I hope that you will watch them and try to become acquainted
with all.
Narcisia Lewis.
MR. AND MRS. SPARROW’S BLUNDER.
Many people suppose that the instinct of birds and animals is never
wrong, but this is a mistake. I have often seen the wild geese fly north
over the western prairies only to come squawking back in a few days, to
linger with us, if not going farther south, until the sun warmed up the
northland and they dared another flight.
Once my brother witnessed a most amusing case of mistaken judgment among
birds. He had opened a store in a northern town, and during the month of
March was much discouraged by the continued cold weather.
“O! but spring’s here!” exclaimed his partner gleefully one bleak day.
“See those sparrows building a nest in our eaves? That’s a sure sign!”
From that day on the two young men took great interest in the new home
going up under—or rather over—their very eyes. Each new bit of rag or
straw woven in was noted, and they even strewed cotton about in handy
places for the birds to use as “carpeting in the mansion.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account