Birds and Nature Vol. 11 No. 3 [March 1902]

Various

Various

Birds and Nature Vol. 11 No. 3 [March 1902]

EASTER CAROL

Hepatica, anemone,

And bloodroot snowy white,

With their pretty wildwood sisters,

Are opening to the light.

Each blossom bears a message

That a little child may read,

Of the wondrous miracle of life

Hid in the buried seed.

In the woods and fields and gardens

We may find the blessed words

Writ in beauty, and may hear them,

Set in music by the birds.

It is Nature’s Easter carol,

And we, too, with gladness sing,

For we see the Life immortal

In the promise of the spring.

    – Anna M. Pratt,

    From “Among Flowers and Trees with the Poets.”

SPRING

O beautiful world of green!

When bluebirds carol clear,

And rills outleap,

And new buds peep,

And the soft sky seems more near;

With billowy green and leaves, – what then?

How soon we greet the red again!

    G. Cooper, “Round the Year.”

THE WINTER WREN

(Troglodytes hiemalis.)

How rich the varied choir! The unquiet finch

Calls from the distant hollows, and the wren

Uttereth her sweet and mellow plaint at times.

    – Isaac McLellan, “The Notes of the Birds.”

The Winter Wren inhabits that part of North America east of the Rocky Mountains, breeding chiefly north of the United States and migrating at the approach of winter nearly or quite to the Gulf of Mexico.

This diminutive form of bird life, which is also called Bunty Wren and Little Log Wren, is a denizen of the forest, and it is more common in those forests found on bottom lands adjacent to rivers. It is a shy bird, and does not seek the intimacy of man as will its cousin, the house wren. It is seldom seen far above the ground. In many places where it does not seem abundant it may be quite common, for it readily eludes observation in the underbrush because of its neutral color. It frequents old logs, where it may be seen “hopping nimbly in and out among the knotholes and other hollow places, then flitting like a brown butterfly to another place of refuge on the too near approach of an intruder.” Some one has said, “Its actions are almost as much like that of a mouse as of a bird, rarely using its wings except for a short flutter from one bush or stone-heap to another; it creeps slyly and rapidly about, appearing for an instant and is then suddenly lost to view.”

The Winter Wren builds its nest in the matted roots of an overturned tree, in brush-heaps, in moss-covered stumps, or on the side of a tree trunk. It may be attached to a ledge of rock, and is occasionally found in some unoccupied building, especially if it be a log hut in the woods. The nest is very large and bulky when compared with the size of the bird. Dr. Minot describes a nest that he found in a moss-covered stump in a dark, swampy forest filled with tangled piles of fallen trees and branches. This nest was made of small twigs and moss. It had a very narrow entrance on one side, which was covered by an overhanging bit of moss, which the bird pushed aside on entering. The nests are usually more or less globular and thickly lined with feathers and hair.

This little brown bird, which carries its tail pertly cocked on high, is a notable singer. Many have described this song, or perhaps it is better to say have tried to do so. But words are too inadequate to portray this sweetest of woodland sounds. Reverend Mr. Langille says: “I stand entranced and amazed, my very soul vibrating to this gushing melody, which seems at once expressive of the wildest joy and the tenderest sadness. Is it the voice of some woodland elf, breaking forth into an ecstasy of delight, but ending its lyric in melting notes of sorrow?”

Of this song Florence A. Merriam says: “Full of trills, runs, and grace notes, it was a tinkling, rippling roundelay. It made me think of the song of the ruby-crowned kinglet, the volume and ringing quality of both being startling from birds