. Bird neighbors. An introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty birds commonly found in the gardens, meadows, and woods about our homes . of the commonest of bird neighbors, it is now shyand solitary. An ideal resort for it is a grove of oak or swampmaple near a stream or pond where it can bathe. Evergreentrees, too, are favorites, possibly because the bird knows howexquisitely its bright scarlet coat is set off by their dark back-ground. High in the tree-tops he perches, all unsuspected by the vis-itor passing through the woods below, until a burst of rich, sweetmelody directs the o
. Bird neighbors. An introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty birds commonly found in the gardens, meadows, and woods about our homes . of the commonest of bird neighbors, it is now shyand solitary. An ideal resort for it is a grove of oak or swampmaple near a stream or pond where it can bathe. Evergreentrees, too, are favorites, possibly because the bird knows howexquisitely its bright scarlet coat is set off by their dark back-ground. High in the tree-tops he perches, all unsuspected by the vis-itor passing through the woods below, until a burst of rich, sweetmelody directs the opera-glasses suddenly upward. There wedetect him carolling loud and cheerfully, like a robin. ,He is anapparition of beauty—a veritable bird of paradise, as, indeed, heis sometimes called. Because of their similar coloring, the tana-ger and cardinal are sometimes confounded, but an instantscomparison of the two birds shows nothing in common exceptred feathers, and even those of quite different shades. The incon-spicuous olive-green and yellow of the female tanagers plumageis another striking instance of Natures unequal distribution of 218. ■!||(|P«*%;. *((■ Conspicuously Red of any Shade gifts; but if our bright-colored birds have become shockinglyfew under existing conditions, would any at all remain were thefemales prominent, like the males, as they brood upon the nest ?Both tanagers construct a rather disorderly-looking nest of fibresand sticks, through which daylight can be seen where it restssecurely upon the horizontal branch of some oak or pine tree;but as soon as three or four bluish-green eggs have been laidin the cradle, off goes the father, wearing his tell-tale coat, toa distant tree. There he sings his sweetest carol to the patient,brooding mate, returning to her side only long enough to feedher with the insects and berries that form their food. Happily for the young birds fate, they are clothed at first inmotley, dull colors, with here and there only a brig
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1903
