File:Bird studies; an account of the land birds of eastern North America (1898) (14568933509).jpg

Identifier: birdstudiesaccou00scot (find matches)
Title: Bird studies; an account of the land birds of eastern North America
Year: 1898 (1890s)
Authors: Scott, William Earl Dodge, 1852-1910
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York and London, G. P. Putnam's sons
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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so limited in our Northern States, makes it at once conspicu-ous and welcome. Often before the snow has fairly melted its blithesomevoice is heard. Every old orchard, whose hollow trees afford nesting places,soon has its resident pair. A deserted Woodpeckers hole, or the moreartificial bird boxes, are not disdained. In such places a nest of finegrasses is built and from four to six pale blue eggs are laid. There arenumerous records of sets of eggs pure white in color. They are more thanfour fifths of an inch long, and exceed three fifths of an inch in their otherdiameter. The time of breeding varies with the latitude from the middle ofMarch to May. In winter the birds are gregarious. In flocks of from ten to fifty indi-viduals they live a nomadic life, their wanderings being largely regulated bythe food supply and weather conditions. The song is indicative of the season : its plaintive call passing overheadin the autumn seems a harbinger of gray days and falling leaves ; and its gay 7
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^iMI^^^^^^^^b? 1 ^ T^ .■;i IMMATURE BLUEBIRD. About the House. 9 carol from the top of a fence post or from some leafless bough on the firstpromise of spring is surely the token of life and joy. The head of an adult male Robin is black, and the eyelids and a spot a little in front of and above the eye are pure white. The bill is bright yellow, the extreme end being more or less blackish. The upper American Robin, p^j-t of the body is olive slate in coloring, and the tail Merula migratoria (.Linn.). i i i i r i i • i i • leathers are black, the outer leathers on each side bemgmarked with white at their tips. The throat is white, streaked with blackish.The feathers below the tail are white at the tips, showing more or less of theslate color of their bases. The belly is also white. The rest of the lowerparts and the sides are bright chestnut brown. The adult female is similarin color, but much paler or lighter, and with more slaty or gray feathersmixed with the black of the head, p

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