太子爷小说网 > 英语电子书 > bird neighbors >

第8节

bird neighbors-第8节

小说: bird neighbors 字数: 每页4000字

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!





PURPLE MARTIN (Progne subis) Swallow family

Length  7 to 8 inches。 Two or three inches smaller than the   robin。 Male  Rich glossy black with bluish and purple reflections;   duller black on wings and tail。 Wings rather longer than the   tail; which is forked。 Female  More brownish and mottled; grayish below。 Range  Peculiar to America。 Penetrates from Arctic Circle to   South America。 Migrations  Late April。 Early September。 Summer resident。

In old…fashioned gardens; set on a pole over which honeysuckle and roses climbed from a bed where China pinks; phlox; sweet Williams; and hollyhocks crowded each other below; martin boxes used always to be seen with a pair of these large; beautiful swallows circling overhead。 Bur now; alas! the boxes; where set up at all; are quickly monopolized by the English sparrow; a bird that the martin; courageous as a kingbird in attacking crows and hawks; tolerates as a neighbor only when it must。

Bradford Torrey tells of seeing quantities of long…necked squashes dangling from poles about the negro cabins all through the South。 One day he asked an old colored man what these squashes were for。

〃Why; deh is martins' boxes;〃 said Uncle Remus。 〃No danger of hawks carryin' off de chickens so long as de martins am around。〃

The Indians; too; have always had a special liking for this bird。 They often lined a hollowed…out gourd with bits of bark and fastened it in the crotch of their tent poles to invite its friendship。 The Mohegan Indians have called it 〃the bird that never rests〃a name better suited to the tireless barn swallow; Dr。 Abbott thinks。

Wasps; beetles; and all manner of injurious garden insects constitute its diet  another reason for its universal popularity。 It is simple enough to distinguish the martins from the other swallows by their larger size and iridescent dark coat; not to mention their song; which is very soft and sweet; like musical laughter; rippling up through the throat。


COWBIRD (Molothrus ater) Blackbird family

Called also: BROWN…HEADED ORIOLE; COW…PEN BIRD; COW BLACKBIRD;   COW BUNTING; 'BROWN…HEADED COWBIRD; AOU 1998'

Length  7 to 8 inches。 About one…fifth smaller than the robin。 Male  Iridescent black; with head; neck; and breast glistening   brown。 Bill dark brown; feet brownish。 Female  Dull grayish…brown above; a shade lighter below; and   streaked with paler shades of brown。 Range  United States; from coast to coast。 North into British   America; south into Mexico。 Migrations  March。 November。 Common summer resident。

The cowbird takes its name from its habit of walking about among the cattle in the pasture; picking up the small insects which the cattle disturb in their grazing。 The bird may often be seen within a foot or two of the nose of a cow or heifer; walking briskly about like a miniature hen; intently watching for its insect prey。

Its marital and domestic character is thoroughly bad。 Polygamous and utterly irresponsible for its offspring; this bird forms a striking contrast to other feathered neighbors; and indeed is almost an anomaly in the animal kingdom。 In the breeding season an unnatural mother may be seen skulking about in the trees and shrubbery; seeking for nests in which to place a surreptitious egg; never imposing it upon a bird of its size; but selecting in a cowardly way a small nest; as that of the vireos or warblers or chipping sparrows; and there leaving the hatching and care of its young to the tender mercies of some already burdened little mother。 It has been seen to remove an egg from the nest of the red…eyed vireo in order to place one of its own in its place。 Not finding a convenient nest; it will even drop its eggs on the ground; trusting them to merciless fate; or; still worse; devouring them。 The eggs are nearly an inch long; white speckled with brown or gray。 

Cowbirds are gregarious。 The ungrateful young birds; as soon as they are able to go roaming; leave their foster…parents and join the flock of their own kind。 In keeping with its unclean habits and unholy life and character; the cowbird's ordinary note is a gurgling; rasping whistle; followed by a few sharp notes。


STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris) 

'Called also: EUROPEAN STARLING; AOU 1998'

Length  8 to 9 inches。 Weight about equals that of robin; but   the starling; with its short; drooping tail; is chunkier in   appearance。 Male  Iridescent black with glints of purple; green; and blue。   On back the black feathers; with iridescence of green and   bronze; are tipped with brown; as are some of the tail and wing   feathers。 In autumn and early winter feathers of sides of head;   breast; flanks and underparts are tipped with white; giving a   gray; mottled appearance。 During the winter most of the white   tips on breast and underparts wear off。 Until the first moult   in late summer the young birds are a dark olive…brown in color;   with white or whitish throat。 These differences in plumage at   different seasons and different ages make starlings hard to   identify。 Red…winged blackbirds and grackles are often mistaken   for them。 From early spring till mid…June; starling's rather   long; sharp bill is yellow。 Later in summer it darkens。 No   other black bird of ours has this yellow bill at any season。 Female  Similar in appearance。 Range  Massachusetts to Maryland。 Not common beyond 100 miles   inland。 (Native of northern Europe and Asia。) Migrations  Permanent resident; but flocks show some tendency   to drift southward in winter。

This newcomer to our shores is by no means so black as he has been painted。 Like many other European immigrants he landed at or near Castle Garden; New York City; and his descendants have not cared to wander very far from this vicinity; preferring regions with a pretty numerous human population。 The starlings have increased so fast in this limited region since their first permanent settlement in Central Park about 1890 that farmers and suburban dwellers have feared that they might become as undesirable citizens as some other Europeans  the brown rat; the house mouse; and the English sparrow。 But a very thorough investigation conducted by the United States Bureau of Biological Survey (Bulletin No。 868; 1921) is most reassuring in its results。 

Let us first state the case for the prosecution: (1) the starling must plead guilty to a fondness for cultivated cherries; (2) he is often a persecutor of native birds; like the bluebird and flicker; (3) his roosts; where he sometimes congregates in thousands in the autumn; are apt to become public nuisances; offensive alike to the eye; the nose and the ear。 

But these offences are not so very serious after all。 He does not eat so many cherries as our old friend the robin; though his depredations are more conspicuous; for whereas the robins in ones and twos will pilfer steadily from many trees for many days without attracting notice; a crowd of starlings is occasionally observed to descend en masse upon a single tree and strip it in a few hours。 Naturally such high…handed procedure is observed by many and deeply resented by the owner of the tree; who suffers the steady but less spectacular raids of the robins without serious disquiet; 

Less can be said in defense of the starling's scandalous treatment of some native birds。 〃Unrelenting perseverance dominates the starling's activities when engaged in a controversy over a nesting site。 More of its battles are won by dogged persistence in annoying its victim than by bold aggression; and its irritating tactics are sometimes carried to such a point that it seems almost as if the bird were actuated more by a morbid pleasure of annoying its neighbors than by any necessity arising from a scarcity of nesting sites。。。

〃In contests with the flicker the starling frequently makes up in numbers what disadvantage it may have in size。 Typical of such combats was the one observed on May 9; at Hartford; Conn。; where a group of starlings and a flicker were in controversy over a newly excavated nest。 The number of starlings varied; but as many as 6 were noted at one time。 Attention was first attracted to the dispute by a number of starlings in close proximity to the hole and by the sounds of a tussle within。 Presently a flicker came out dragging a starling after him。 The starling continued the battle outside long enough to allow one of its comrades to slip into the nest。 Of course the flicker had to repeat the entire performance。 He did this for about half an hour; when he gave up; leaving the starlings in possession of the nest。。。

〃Economically considered; the starling is the superior of either the flicker; the robin; or the English sparrow; three of the species with which it comes in contact in its breeding operations。 The eggs and young of bluebirds and wrens may be protected by the use of nest boxes with circular openings 1 1/2 inches or less in diameter。 This leaves the purple martin the only species readily subject to attack by the starling; whose economic worth may be considered greater than that of the latter; but in no case was the disturbance of a well…established colony of martins noted。〃 

As for the nuisance of a big established roost of starlings; it may be abated by nightly salvos of Roman candles or blank cartridges; con

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 1

你可能喜欢的