. Bird neighbors. An introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty birds commonly found in the gardens, meadows, and woods about our homes . rom the kitchendoor, a morsel from the dogs plate, a little seed in the barn-yard,happily rewarded if he can find a spider lurking in some shelteredplace to give a flavor to the unrelished grain. Mow he becomesalmost tame, but we feel it is only because he must be. The spot that decided preference leads him to, either win-ter or summer, is beside a bubbling spring. In the mossthat grows near it the nest is placed in early summer, nearlyalways roofe
. Bird neighbors. An introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty birds commonly found in the gardens, meadows, and woods about our homes . rom the kitchendoor, a morsel from the dogs plate, a little seed in the barn-yard,happily rewarded if he can find a spider lurking in some shelteredplace to give a flavor to the unrelished grain. Mow he becomesalmost tame, but we feel it is only because he must be. The spot that decided preference leads him to, either win-ter or summer, is beside a bubbling spring. In the mossthat grows near it the nest is placed in early summer, nearlyalways roofed over and entered from the side, in true wren-fash-ion ; and as the young fledglings emerge from the creamy-whiteeggs, almost the first lesson they receive from their devoted littleparents is in the fine art of bathing. Even in winter weather,when the wren has to stand on a rim of ice, he will duck andsplash his diminutive body. It is recorded of a certain littleindividual that he was wont to dive through the icy water on aDecember day. Evidently the wrens, as a family, are not farremoved in the evolutionary scale from true water-birds. ii8. LONG-BILLED MARSH WREN Brown, Olive or Grayish Brown, and Brown and Gray Sparrowy Birds Long-billed Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) Wren family Length—/^.^ to inches. Actually a little smaller than the Eng-lish sparrow. Apparently half the size. Male and Female—Brown above, with white line over the eye,and the back irregularly and faintly streaked with and tail barred with darker cinnamon-brown. Un-derneath white. Sides dusky. Tail long and often carriederect. Bill extra long and slender. Range—United States and southern British America. Migrations—May. September. Summer resident. Sometimes when you are gathering cat-tails in the rivermarshes an alert, nervous little brown bird rises startled from therushes and tries to elude you as with short, jerky flight it goesdeeper and deeper into the marsh, where even the
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1904
