The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, April 5, 1917, Page 23

o1 te [}/ SSS 3 A o A At e Thé Story of a Wren Family And How Their Fear of Pebple Was Changed to Friendship RENS are interesting Ntcte chaps—droll fidgety little in- dividuals, each with great self esteem. My interest in a cer- tain brown family had in- creased with every visit for a whole month. While'out birding in the latter part of June I was trudging along one of the shaded paths of a hillside when a little bird whizzed headlong down in its tippling flight.barely dodging my head. A moment’s pause on an over- hanging branch was sufficient for me to recognize the hurrying stranger as a Vigor's wren. For all my strategy this little brown bird was too shrewd to show me her home. Stealing a march the next day, and being well hidden where I thought the nest might be, I saw the wren. The idea of a nest of gaping mouths van- ished as the brown body fidgeted about and then whirled away to a large up- turned root covered with vines. I was too much absorbed in gazing at a piece of snake-skin she had in her mouth, to heed her scoldings. She hopped about in a tangle of brier and fern, appar- ently forgetful of my presence, but those sharp eyes are never heedless. Her action might have deceived many but I knew her too well; in the twink- ling of an eye she popped into the dead body of an alder-tree and disappeared through a tiny round hole. Wrens have traditions. I was not sure a Vigor's wren considered a bit of snake-skin the keystone to the arch of its snugly built home. I do not re- member of ever examining the nest of its cousin, the Parkman’s wren and not finding this traditional bit of trea- sure. Maybe it is a matter of protec- tion, for it is said a snake will not venture where a vestige of its own gkin is found. HOW THE NUTHATCH USES PITCH Almost every feathered creature has some interesting trait of protection. I have always found that the red- breasted nuthatch, after he has exca- vated his wooden home' in some dead stump, never fails to collect a good - supply of soft pitch and plaster it religiously about the circled doorway of the log house. Bver since I discovered the wren _building its nest in the alder stub my interest had grown. I was anxious to win {ts friendship principally because ‘gnost birds had finished nesting for the season. Experience had taught me not to try to win the affections of a bird too rapidly. After watching and walt- for almost half an hour and seeing peither wren, I became impatient and knocked gently on the three trunk. I shook the tree vigorously. I walked around to the nest; all was dark with- tn; not even the white eggs could be seen. Then with the aid of a little mirror that is always handy to ex- amine dark crevices, I reflected a ray ot light through the door to the inner- most depths. There sat the mother, but those round dark eyes gleamed put from the gloom. ‘When I visited the Ilittle wooden “pome in July there was a decided turn the wren affairs. The news was ded from the tree-tops. For two Jong weeks the father and mother had - @overed and caressed their five speckled white eggs until they suddenly teemed th inward life and five tiny bodies t forth from the prison walls. YOUNG ONES KNEW THEIR MOTHER’S VOICE It was the mother’s day to forage. Returning from the hunt with food she whisked about with a look of inquiry. Bhe soon came to regard us with an air of indifference, although flustered at first by our presence. A moment’s use on her threshold, she would pop to her round, little home; then as if amazed at the increasing appetites she had to appease, she would dart out and away for a new supply. The little \ mother searched continually the entire day for grubs. Each time returning she would pause on top of a nearby tree and pipe her little trill, which the father never failed to hear. I was amused to hear how readily the wren- Jets learned to recognize the voice of their mother. Her song of arrival soon eame to be answered by such a chorus of tiny cries that she could not resist hurrying headlong into the nest. Sev- eral timeés from my “rabbit’s hole” in the bushes, I saw a song-sparrow stop on a swaying limb and sing a song somewhat resembling that of the wren, but never a peep from the children in - the wooden home. Later on, I was surprised to see two little brown heads as I gazed through my field-glass at the round nest hole. How could I ever get pictures of the wren nestlings if they were to remain continually within those protected walls? For some reason the father scolded more than usual on my next visit. He seemed out of sorts with everything. Something was radically wrong. Every time the patient mother returned, he grew more restless and violent in his language. It seemed as if the wren household was to be wreck- ed. BEach return of the mother was heralded by the high-sounding trill from the tree-top, and her husband whirled out of the tangled vines to take the morsel she carried. But what of his actions? Two or three times he did this, finally swallowing the grub him- self. Again the mother appeared with a large moth which he readily took. Away he flew to the nest hole, just out of reach of the wrenlets and back into the trees. The brown nestling nearest “Mercy! .Such reaching and stretching!” For the Boys and Girls—Bird Chats For many years the grown-ups have been observing and recording the an- nual return of the birds. Here is something for the boys and girls to do, too. Nearly all small birds make their long flights by night, spending the daytime quietly feeding and resting. Some kinds, like phoebes, song spar- rows, meadow-larks and bluebirds come very early—as soon as the snow is all gone and the hillsides begin to feel warm. ‘Where is the best place to look for birds? Really every kind of place has its charms for different kinds of birds. Along the little lakes and streams you can find dainty sand pipers, green herons and phoebes. A king fisher's cry may catch your ear; he may even be seen to plunge headlong into the water and come out with a gleaming ghiner. In thé marshes are the beau- tiful clear-piping redwings and the chuckling marsh ‘wrens and you may startle a brown bittern. Birds have traits of character as well as people and every kind of bird does things in its own way. They group themselves into families by simi- lar habits and character. Flycatchers' dart out and catch insects on the wing with a snap of the bill and return to their perch to wait for another victim. Sparrows like to be near or on the ground. 'Woodpeckers like to climb about in the trees bracing on their stiff tails, head up. Generally speak- ing, birds like to follow valleys when they can, even going for short dis- tances to enter a valley that will lead them in the right direction. Many birds do not migrate at all, like the crows, chickadees, and many hawks and woodpeckers. The red-poll linnets, snowflakes, crossbills and butcher birds come to us only with very cold winters. But how the birds know when to go and which way to turn are things not well understood. The flights are nearly all made at night and the great movements start a long time before it is really necessary for the birds to start on their long journey. They are varied and inter- There are bird houses and bird shelters of all sorts of shapes and many kinds of material. Each bird group or family has its own particular style of building its nest—the open nest of the game birds, the swinging nests of the orioles and many others. Did you ever think how differently the birds fly? Nearly all the game birds have their own peculiar way of flying. The flight of the grouse is heavy and of short duration. Birds of short and bullet-like flight have comparatively small rounded wings and heavy bodies. Birds of poorly de- veloped wings, like the ostrich and penguin are always flightless. Birds capable of very long, graceful, varied, soaring flight have a vast expanse of wings as compared with the size of the body. We see among all birds the general sameness of the wing-feathers of the outer set. With few or no exceptions, they are comparatively strong and stiff and of one general shape. Other feathers differ among the various kind of birds in endless and frequently ex- treme ways. This one fact leads us to believe that the typical shape of the outer or primary feathers must be the best for flying. Flight feathers are found to be stiff- est and strongest at their quill ends and most yielding at their tips. They always overlap the same way, the outermost feather of the extended wing being the undermost in the fully closed wing. The shaft of the feather is near the middle, but toward the outer edge in the inner flight feathers and near the outer edge of the outermost feathers. By these arrangements the wing has a valve-like and an oar-like action upon the air, according as to whether the bird wants to sail, swoop, stop or what not. Our feathered friends will soon be with us and I hope you boys and girls will use your eyes and ears, so when the birds make their annual return to the southland, you will be able to write us a nice little story about some of the things you saw and did. Please do not forget the bird houses and bird shelters. THIRTEEN the door grew so bold with hunger that he forgot his fear and plunged head- long down, catching in the-—-branches below where the father perched. The precocious youngster got the large moth as a reward for his bravery. Not until then did it dawn upon me that there was reason for the father’s queer actions. The wrenlets were old enough to leave the nest. In half an hour, one after another, the little wrens had been persuaded, even compelled, to leave the narrow confines of the nest and launch out into the big world. My attention was directed in particu- lar to one little feathered subject who, each time the brown father came back, insisted noisly that his turn was next, His emphatic appeal failed to persuade the father, for the next instant he de- posited the morsel in the mouth of the less boisterous child. What a change in my enthusiastic little friend; he was amazed, feathers ruffled in anger and a little peep of digust escaped hig throat. The third morning all was quiet and I thought the family had departed for other hunting grounds. However, the father soon appeared, then the mother, scolding as usual. I crawled down un- der the tall ferns to wait. The children had been well trained to keep quiet, for not a peep was heard. Pretty soon a soft little wink-wink as a warning of hunger came from the vine covered stump. Gradually these little notes of warning increased in number and vol= ume till the chorus of five impatient voices arose from the tangle of ferns and vines. LEARN TO EAT FROM ONE’S HAND My continued visits had made fast friends of the little fellows. Two of them took their position on the top of the little stub where the father was accustomed to light. Here they sat in sleepy attitude, each awaiting his turn to be fed. It was remarkable to witness the effect of the mother’s trill as she heralded the approach of some- thing edible. In a flash they were wide awalke. Often do I remember trying to play foster-parent to yvoung birds, yet sel- dom succeeded. A week before when I held a large spider temptingly near, they crouched back in terror, but by this time they had grown in wordly wisdom. I had seen the mother bird hop up and dotwn on an old stump till she would haul out a big grub. Digging into this bird-store house with a knife I soon had a half dozen fine fat worms, which would have taken the mother two hours to gather. Test- ing the little wrens once more, I put two of the worms on a sharpened stick. It was impossible for me to announce the approach of this delicious dinner with the soft mother trills, but I pat- ted both birds on the back and rather hesitatingly held up my offering. There was no room to doubt its-acceptance. I could not divide up fast enough. Nor was one grub apiece sufficient. Quiet was not restored till each wren- let had stored away two of the fattest and largest. For the first time the parent wrens seemed to realize that I was actually of some use. The trying task of satis- fying five growing = appetites was lessened to some degree and the busy parents took household affairs some- what more easily the rest of the day. -The next time I saw the wren family all the young were scampering about and earning their own livelihood.— Selected. Helpful Ideas A good substitute for a hot water- bottle is a cloth bag filled with heated shelled corn. The same corn may be used for weeks. It retains heat a long time. A good cheap table-mat can be made of asbestos. It can be purchased for 10 cents a yard and hy doubling and quilting a very serviceable mat is made. Cover with cheap muslin and be sure to make mats to go with the table leaves too. To keep the children from losing their handkerchiefs, especiall for school, try making a button-h-*" - the handkerchief and button Z—m———u=——"oL) button. writing advertisers A