File:Birds and nature in natural colors. (1913) (14751682252).jpg

Identifier: birdsnatureinnat04unse (find matches)
Title: Birds and nature in natural colors.
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors:
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Chicago : A.W. Mumford, Publisher
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: BHL-SIL-FEDLINK

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other birds. Seebohm says: Thelove notes form a short but pleasing song, and the more particularly are we aptto view his performance with favor, because it generally greets the ear in wildand lonely places. * Sometimes he war1)les his notes on his perch, ac-companying them with graceful motion of the wings, and finally launching into-the air to complete his song, the aerial fluttering seeming to give the i:)erformanceadditional vigor. It is said that the ^^heatear in confinement will sinir continu-ally and far into the night. The nests of the AMieatear are usually placed in wild localities, and arewell protected by their natural surroundings. The deep recesses of sea coastrocks and the crevices of old stone walls are favorite nesting sites. Xot infre-quently its home is built in the loose piles of stones found in abandoned gravelpits. Yarrell writes of one Wheatear that had nested in a bank behind a pileof stones. To reach this spot the bird passed through the interstices of some 712
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rather large, loose stones, as a mouse would have done, and then laterally to ahollow space in a bank, against which the stones w ere laid; and so deep hadshe penetrated that many stones had to be removed before we could discoverher treasures. But the Wheatear does not always show as much caution inthe selection of a nesting site. Sometimes it chooses a deserted rabbit burrowor a space underneath a clod of earth in a fallow-field. The nest is usually con-structed with the stems of plants and grasses, and is well lined with feathersand hair. The \\heatear feeds on worms, small mollusks and insects. Flies are oftencaught while on the wing, the bird launching forth from its perch on a clodor stone pile and returning after the capture, as do the flycatchers. Late in the season, when the Wheatear is plump and fat, it is esteemedas an article of food. In former years large numbers of these birds were cap-tured for this purpose. Pennant states that in his time nearly two thousanddozens were

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