Homes Without Hands: Being a Description of the Habitations of Animals, Classed According to Their Principle of Construction - Page 102

We will now turn to the second of these celebrated ornithologists, and see what he has to say on the nesting of this splendid bird:

“The nest of this species is generally fixed on a very large and lofty tree, often in a swamp or morass, and difficult to be ascended. On some noted tree of this description, often a pine or cypress, the Bald Eagle builds, year after year, for a long series of years. When both male and female have been shot from the nest, another pair has soon after taken possession. The nest is large, being added to and repaired every season, until it becomes a black prominent mass, observable at a considerable distance. It is formed of large sticks, sods, earthy rubbish, hay, moss, etc.

“Many have stated to me that the female lays first a single egg, and that, after having sat on it for some time, she lays another; when the first is hatched, the warmth of that, it is pretended, hatched the other. Whether this be correct or not I can not determine, but a very respectable gentleman of Virginia assured me that he saw a large tree cut down, containing the nest of a Bald Eagle, in which were two young, one of which appeared nearly three times as large as the other.

“As a proof of their attachment to their young, a person near Norfolk informed me that, in clearing a piece of wood on his place, they met with a large dead pine-tree on which was a Bald Eagle’s nest and young. The tree being on fire more than half way up, and the flames rapidly ascending, the parent eagle darted round and among the flames until her plumage was so much injured that it was with difficulty she could make her escape, and even then she several times attempted to return to relieve her offspring.”

THE bird next on our list is rather variable in its nesting. The GOLDEN ORIOLE (Oriolus galbula) is seldom seen in England, and its nest even more seldom. Every year, however, a few stray nests are built in this country, as there are few years in which the journals devoted to natural history do not contain a notice of the bird being seen, and occasionally of its nest being found. In the warmer parts of the Continent it is plentiful, and in Italy is regularly exposed in the markets toward the middle of autumn, when it has indulged in fruit for some time, and has become very plump and fat.

In this condition it is well known to epicures under the name of Becquafiga, corrupted into Beccafico. It is not easily procured, as it is a very wary bird, and does not like to venture far from covert. In the autumn, however, its love of fruit conquers its fear of man, and it haunts the orchards in numbers, making no small havoc among the fruit. Even under such circumstances it is not easy of approach, and the gunner will seldom manage to secure his prey except by imitating its peculiar and flute-like notes. He must, however, be very careful in his mimicry, for the bird has a critical ear, and if it detects the imitator, is sure to slip through the foliage and fly off to its forest strong-hold.

Golden Orioles and Nest.

The nest of the Golden Oriole is always placed near the extremity of a branch, and in some cases is so constructed that it almost deserves to be ranked among the pensiles. It is always a pretty nest, and the accompanying illustration conveys a good idea of its general form. It is always more or less cup-like in shape, but the comparative depth of the cup is very variable, as in some cases it is scarcely deeper in proportion than that of the goldfinch, and rather saucer-shaped, while in others the depth even exceeds the width. Perhaps the nest may be altered in shape after the female begins to deposit her eggs, as is known to be the case with many birds, the additions being always made to the margin.

It is a remarkable fact that this enlargement of the nest should be common both to birds and insects. The reader may perhaps remember that the wasp, as well as other hymenoptera, lays an egg in the cell while it is yet shallow, and adds to the cell in proportion to the growth of the grub. The time of year, therefore, at which the nest of the Golden Oriole is found will have an influence on its shape, as the nest which is taken in the early spring, before the eggs are laid, will probably be shallower than that which is found in autumn, after the eggs have been hatched and the young reared.

The object for deepening the nest may probably be traced to the weather which happens to prevail. If the winds be light, the nest may remain in its flat and saucer-like form without endangering the safety of the eggs; but if the season should be inclement and tempestuous, a deeper nest is needed in order to prevent the eggs or young from being flung out of their home.

The body of the nest is formed chiefly of vegetable substances, usually the stems of different grasses, which are interwoven with wool, and thus made into a tolerably strong fabric. The female bird is said to be very affectionate, and to sit so closely on her nest that she will almost suffer the hand to be laid upon her before she will leave her post. In the illustration, the female bird is standing upright on the branch, and looking upward, while the male is bending over the bough, and peering downward, as if at some fancied foe. He can always be distinguished from his mate by the brighter gold of his plumage, the black spot between the eye and the beak, and the deeper black of his wings; whereas in the female a tinge of blue invades the yellow, changing it to yellowish-green, the wings are brown, edged with gray, and the black spot in front of the eye is altogether absent. Moreover, the breast and belly are marked with many longitudinal dashes of grayish-brown.

ONE of the most variable of birds in its nesting is the well-known RED-WINGED STARLING of Northern America (Icterus Phœniceus).

This beautiful bird derives its popular name from the fiery scarlet of the lesser wing-coverts, contrasting so boldly with the jet black of the remaining plumage. It is known by several opprobrious names in its own country, such as Corn-thief, Maize-thief, etc., because it is popularly thought to live upon corn, whereas, like our starling, it is a most insatiable eater of the grubs, caterpillars, and other creatures which infest the cornfields, and only eats corn at a certain time. There is, however, one season in the year in which the Red-winged Starling becomes an arrant thief.

It is said that every living creature can be bribed, if the right bribe can only be found, and in the case of this bird, the newly-developed maize-grains present a temptation which it can not resist. It is not alone in this predilection, for there are many other birds, and some quadrupeds, the bear being the most conspicuous, which revel in the sweet, pulpy, succulent Indian corn. Even mankind is overcome with this delicacy. The white man fills his pockets with the plump ears, and munches them as he goes on with his business, and the copper-skinned native half stupefies himself by gorging the cream-like grains. Small blame, therefore, to the bird for following an example which is set by its superiors. But before the maize is developed, and after it is hardened, the Red-winged Starling depends chiefly on insect food for its subsistence, and is, therefore, a truly useful bird, deserving to be protected rather than destroyed, and only requiring to be driven out of the maize-plantations for a week or two in the course of the year.

The nest of this bird is almost always built in morasses where reeds are plentiful, and in such places it almost invariably roosts, flocking to them toward nightfall in vast masses that absolutely blacken the air, now appearing as a vast dull cloud, and now suddenly flecked with blood-red patches, as the black bodies and scarlet wings are alternately turned to the spectator.

Somewhere about the end of April the Red-winged Starling begins to make its nest. This is sometimes placed on the ground, sometimes on a grass tussock, and sometimes in a branch, thus being more variable in position than is the nest of any other bird. The mode of structure and materials of the nest differ with the locality.

When the nest is placed on the ground, it is composed of a few rushes and grass-stems, the chief care of the bird being to secure a soft lining of grass-blades. When it is built in a grass or rush tussock, the stems are drawn together and held in their places by long grasses, so as to make a hollow wherein the nest may repose.

But when it is placed on a branch it is much more complicated. The bushes which are found in swampy places are always so slender and flexible that much care is required in order to render them capable of bearing the nest. The bird, therefore, takes a quantity of wet rushes and long grasses, and twists them round a number of twigs, intertwining them so as to bring these twigs into a rudely-shaped hollow cylinder. From the same materials the body of the nest is formed, and the lining is made from dry grass-blades. Little pains are taken to hide the nest, because the swampy nature of the ground prevents the intrusion of many foes, and in some cases three or four nests are seen close to each other on a single bush.

ONE of the common American birds, the YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT (Icteria viridis), is not only remarkable for its really pretty nest, but for the manner in which it defends its home.

Although so chary of being seen that an experienced ornithologist may follow it for an hour by its voice, and never catch a glimpse of the bird, it is full of talk, and as soon as a human being approaches, it begins to vociferate reproaches in an odd series of syllabic sounds, which can be easily imitated. Mocking the bird is an unfailing method of doubling its anger, and will cause it to follow the imitator for a long distance, although it will, even under these circumstances, keep itself hidden in the foliage. Wilson’s account of the curious sounds which it utters is very graphic and interesting. “On these occasions his responses are constant and rapid, strongly expressive of anger and anxiety, and while the bird itself remains unseen, the voice shifts from place to place among the bushes, as if it proceeded from a spirit. First is heard a repetition of short notes, resembling the whistling of the wings of a duck or teal, beginning loud and rapid, and falling lower and lower, till they end in detached notes. Then a succession of others, something like the barking of young puppies, is followed by a variety of hollow, guttural sounds, each eight or ten times repeated, more like those proceeding from the throat of a quadruped than that of a bird, which are succeeded by others not unlike the mewing of a cat, but considerably hoarser.

“All these are uttered with great vehemence, in such different keys and with such peculiar modulation of voice as sometimes to seem at a considerable distance, and instantly as if just beside you; now on this side and now on that; so that, from these manœuvres of ventriloquism, you are utterly at a loss to ascertain from what particular spot or quarter they proceed. If the weather be mild and serene, with clear moonlight, he continues gabbling in the same strange dialect, with very little intermission, during the whole night, as if disputing with his own echoes.

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