The first nest-builders in spring, like the first settlers near hostile tribes, suffer the most casualties. A large portion of the nests of April and May are destroyed; their enemies have been many months without eggs and their appetites are keen for them. It is a time, too, when other food is scarce, and the crows and squirrels are hard put. But the second nests of June, and still more the nests of July and August, are seldom molested28. It is rarely that the nest of the goldfinch or the cedar29-bird is harried30.
My neighborhood on the Hudson is perhaps exceptionally unfavorable as a breeding haunt for birds, owing to the abundance of fish-crows and of red squirrels; and the season of which this chapter is mainly a chronicle, the season of 1881, seems to have been a black-letter one even for this place, for at least nine nests out of every ten that I observed during that spring and summer failed of their proper issue. From the first nest I noted31, which was that of a bluebird,—built (very imprudently I thought at the time) in a squirrel-hole in a decayed apple-tree, about the last of April, and which came to naught33, even the mother-bird, I suspect, perishing by a violent death,—to the last, which was that of a snow-bird, observed in August, among the Catskills, deftly34 concealed35 in a mossy bank by the side of a road that skirted a wood, where the tall thimble blackberries grew in abundance, from which the last young one was taken, when it was about half grown, by some nocturnal walker or daylight prowler, some untoward37 fate seemed hovering38 about them. It was a season of calamities39, of violent deaths, of pillage40 and massacre41, among our feathered neighbors. For the first time I noticed that the orioles were not safe in their strong, pendent nests. Three broods were started in the apple-trees, only a few yards from the house, where, for previous seasons, the birds had nested without molestation42; but this time the young were all destroyed when about half grown. Their chirping43 and chattering44, which was so noticeable one day, suddenly ceased the next. The nests were probably plundered45 at night, and doubtless by the little red screech-owl9, which I know is a denizen46 of these old orchards, living in the deeper cavities of the trees. The owl could alight on the top of the nest, and easily thrust his murderous claw down into its long pocket and seize the young and draw them forth47. The tragedy of one of the nests was heightened, or at least made more palpable, by one of the half-fledged birds, either in its attempt to escape or while in the clutches of the enemy, being caught and entangled48 in one of the horse-hairs by which the nest was stayed and held to the limb above. There it hung bruised49 and dead, gibbeted to its own cradle. This nest was the theatre of another little tragedy later in the season. Some time in August a bluebird, indulging its propensity50 to peep and pry51 into holes and crevices52, alighted upon it and probably inspected the interior; but by some unlucky move it got its wings entangled in this same fatal horse-hair. Its efforts to free itself appeared only to result in its being more securely and hopelessly bound; and there it perished; and there its form, dried and embalmed53 by the summer heats, was yet hanging in September, the outspread wings and plumage showing nearly as bright as in life.
A correspondent writes me that one of his orioles got entangled in a cord while building her nest, and that though by the aid of a ladder he reached and liberated54 her, she died soon afterward55. He also found a "chippie" (called also "hair bird") suspended from a branch by a horse-hair, beneath a partly constructed nest. I heard of a cedar-bird caught and destroyed in the same way, and of two young bluebirds, around whose legs a horse-hair had become so tightly wound that the legs withered56 up and dropped off. The birds became fledged, and left the nest with the others. Such tragedies are probably quite common.
Before the advent2 of civilization in this country, the oriole probably built a much deeper nest than it usually does at present. When now it builds in remote trees and along the borders of the woods, its nest, I have noticed, is long and gourd-shaped; but in orchards and near dwellings58 it is only a deep cup or pouch59. It shortens it up in proportion as the danger lessens60. Probably a succession of disastrous61 years, like the one under review, would cause it to lengthen62 it again beyond the reach of owl's talons63 or jay-bird's beak64.
The first song-sparrow's nest I observed in the spring of 1881 was in the field under a fragment of a board, the board being raised from the ground a couple of inches by two poles. It had its full complement65 of eggs, and probably sent forth a brood of young birds, though as to this I cannot speak positively66, as I neglected to observe it further. It was well sheltered and concealed, and was not easily come at by any of its natural enemies, save snakes and weasels. But concealment often avails little. In May, a song-sparrow, that had evidently met with disaster earlier in the season, built its nest in a thick mass of woodbine against the side of my house, about fifteen feet from the ground. Perhaps it took the hint from its cousin, the English sparrow. The nest was admirably placed, protected from the storms by the overhanging eaves and from all eyes by the thick screen of leaves. Only by patiently watching the suspicious bird, as she lingered near with food in her beak, did I discover its whereabouts. That brood is safe, I thought, beyond doubt. But it was not; the nest was pillaged67 one night, either by an owl, or else by a rat that had climbed into the vine, seeking an entrance to the house. The mother-bird, after reflecting upon her ill-luck about a week, seemed to resolve to try a different system of tactics and to throw all appearances of concealment aside. She built a nest few yards from the house beside the drive, upon a smooth piece of greensward. There was not a weed or a shrub68 or anything whatever to conceal16 it or mark its site. The structure was completed and incubation had begun before I discovered what was going on. "Well, well," I said, looking down upon the bird almost at my feet, "this is going to the other extreme indeed; now, the cats will have you." The desperate little bird sat there day after day, looking like a brown leaf pressed down in the short green grass. As the weather grew hot, her position became very trying. It was no longer a question of keeping the eggs warm, but of keeping them from roasting. The sun had no mercy on her, and she fairly panted in the middle of the day. In such an emergency the male robin has been known to perch69 above the sitting female and shade her with his outstretched wings. But in this case there was no perch for the male bird, had he been disposed to make a sunshade of himself. I thought to lend a hand in this direction myself, and so stuck a leafy twig70 beside the nest. This was probably an unwise interference; it guided disaster to the spot; the nest was broken up, and the mother-bird was probably caught, as I never saw her afterward.
For several previous summers a pair of kingbirds had reared, unmolested, a brood of young in an apple-tree, only a few yards from the house; but during this season disaster overtook them also. The nest was completed, the eggs laid, and incubation had begun, when, one morning about sunrise, I heard cries of distress71 and alarm proceed from the old apple-tree. Looking out of the window I saw a crow, which I knew to be a fish-crow, perched upon the edge of the nest, hastily bolting the eggs. The parent birds, usually so ready for the attack, seemed over-come with grief and alarm. They fluttered about in the most helpless and bewildered manner, and it was not till the robber fled on my approach that they recovered themselves and charged upon him. The crow scurried72 away with upturned, threatening head, the furious kingbirds fairly upon his back. The pair lingered around their desecrated73 nest for several days, almost silent, and saddened by their loss, and then disappeared. They probably made another trial elsewhere.
The fish-crow only fishes when it has destroyed all the eggs and young birds it can find. It is the most despicable thief and robber among our feathered creatures. From May to August, it is gorged74 with the fledglings of the nest. It is fortunate that its range is so limited. In size it is smaller than the common crow, and is a much less noble and dignified75 bird. Its caw is weak and feminine—a sort of split and abortive76 caw, that stamps it the sneak-thief it is. This crow is common farther south, but is not found in this State, so far as I have observed, except in the valley of the Hudson.
One season a pair of them built a nest in a Norway Spruce that stood amid a dense77 growth of other ornamental78 trees near a large unoccupied house. They sat down amid plenty. The wolf established himself in the fold. The many birds—robins, thrushes, finches, vireos, pewees—that seek the vicinity of dwellings (especially of these large country residences with their many trees and park-like grounds), for the greater safety of their eggs and young, were the easy and convenient victims of these robbers. They plundered right and left, and were not disturbed till their young were nearly fledged, when some boys, who had long before marked them as their prize, rifled the nest.
The song-birds nearly all build low; their cradle is not upon the tree-top. It is only birds of prey79 that fear danger from below more than from above, and that seek the higher branches for their nests. A line five feet from the ground would run above more than half the nests, and one ten feet would bound more than three fourths of them. It is only the oriole and the wood pewee that, as a rule, go higher than this. The crows and jays and other enemies of the birds have learned to explore this belt pretty thoroughly80. But the leaves and the protective coloring of most nests baffle them as effectually, no doubt as they do the professional o?logist. The nest of the red-eyed vireo is one of the most artfully placed in the wood. It is just beyond the point where the eye naturally pauses in its search; namely, on the extreme end of the lowest branch of the tree, usually four or five feet from the ground. One looks up and down through the tree,—shoots his eye-beams into it as he might discharge his gun at some game hidden there, but the drooping81 tip of that low horizontal branch—who would think of pointing his piece just there? If a crow or other marauder were to alight upon the branch or upon those above it, the nest would be screened from him by the large leaf that usually forms a canopy82 immediately above it. The nest-hunter standing83 at the foot of the tree and looking straight before him, might discover it easily, were it not for its soft, neutral gray tint84 which blends so thoroughly with the trunks and branches of trees. Indeed, I think there is no nest in the woods—no arboreal85 nest—so well concealed. The last one I saw was a pendent from the end of a low branch of a maple86, that nearly grazed the clapboards of an unused hay-barn in a remote backwoods clearing. I peeped through a crack and saw the old birds feed the nearly fledged young within a few inches of my face. And yet the cow-bird finds this nest and drops her parasitical87 egg in it. Her tactics in this as in other cases are probably to watch the movements of the parent bird. She may often be seen searching anxiously through the trees or bushes for a suitable nest, yet she may still oftener be seen perched upon some good point of observation watching the birds as they come and go about her. There is no doubt that, in many cases, the cow-bird makes room for her own illegitimate egg in the nest by removing one of the bird's own. When the cow-bird finds two or more eggs in a nest in which she wishes to deposit her own, she will remove one of them. I found a sparrow's nest with two sparrow's eggs and one cow-bird's egg, another egg lying a foot or so below it on the ground. I replaced the ejected egg, and the next day found it again removed, and another cow-bird's egg in its place; I put it back the second time, when it was again ejected, or destroyed, for I failed to find it anywhere. Very alert and sensitive birds like the warblers often bury the strange egg beneath a second nest built on top of the old. A lady, living in the suburbs of an eastern city, one morning heard cries of distress from a pair of house-wrens88 that had a nest in a honeysuckle on her front porch. On looking out of the window, she beheld89 this little comedy—comedy from her point of view, but no doubt grim-tragedy from the point of view of the wrens; a cow-bird with a wren's egg in its beak running rapidly along the walk with the outraged91 wrens forming a procession behind it, screaming, scolding, and gesticulating as only these voluble little birds can. The cow-bird had probably been surprised in the act of violating the nest, and the wrens were giving her a piece of theirs minds.
Every cow-bird is reared at the expense of two or more song-birds. For every one of these dusky little pedestrians92 there amid the grazing cattle there are two more sparrows, or vireos, or warblers, the less. It is a big price to pay—two larks for a bunting-two sovereigns for a shilling; but Nature does not hesitate occasionally to contradict herself in just this way. The young of the cow-bird is disproportionately large and aggressive, one might say hoggish93. When disturbed it will clasp the nest and scream, and snap its beak threateningly. One hatched out in a song-sparrow's nest which was under my observation, and would soon have overridden94 and overborne the young sparrow, which came out of the shell a few hours later, had I not interfered95 from time to time and lent the young sparrow a helping96 hand. Every day I would visit the nest and take the sparrow out from under the pot-bellied interloper and place it on top so that presently it was able to hold its own against its enemy. Both birds became fledged and left the nest about the same time. Whether the race was an even one after that, I know not.
I noted but two warblers' nests during that season, one of the black-throated blue-back and one of the redstart,—the latter built in an apple-tree but a few yards from a little rustic97 summer-house where I idle away many summer days. The lively little birds, darting98 and flashing about, attracted my attention for a week before I discovered their nest. They probably built it by working early in the morning, before I appeared upon the scene, as I never saw them with material in their beaks99. Guessing from their movements that the nest was in a large maple that stood near by, I climbed the tree and explored it thoroughly, looking especially in the forks of the branches, as the authorities say these birds build in a fork. But no nest could I find. Indeed, how can one by searching find a bird's nest? I overshot the mark; the nest was much nearer me, almost under my very nose, and I discovered it, not by searching but by a casual glance of the eye, while thinking of other matters. The bird was just settling upon it as I looked up from my book and caught her in the act. The nest was built near the end of a long, knotty100, horizontal branch of an apple-tree, but effectually hidden by the grouping of the leaves; it had three eggs, one of which proved to be barren. The two young birds grew apace, and were out of the nest early in the second week; but something caught one of them the first night. The other probably grew to maturity101, as it disappeared from the vicinity with its parents after some days.
The blue-back's nest was scarcely a foot from the ground, in a little bush situated102 in a low, dense wood of hemlock103 and beech104 and maple, amid the Catskills,—a deep, massive, elaborate structure, in which the sitting bird sank till her beak and tail alone were visible above the brim. It was a misty105, chilly106 day when I chanced to find the nest, and the mother-bird knew instinctively107 that it was not prudent32 to leave her four half incubated eggs uncovered and exposed for a moment. When I sat down near the nest she grew very uneasy, and after trying in vain to decoy me away by suddenly dropping from the branches and dragging herself over the ground as if mortally wounded, she approached and timidly and half doubtingly covered her eggs within two yards of where I sat. I disturbed her several times to note her ways. There came to be something almost appealing in her looks and manner, and she would keep her place on her precious eggs till my outstretched hand was within a few feet of her. Finally, I covered the cavity of the nest with a dry leaf. This she did not remove with her beak, but thrust her head deftly beneath it and shook it off upon the ground. Many of her sympathizing neighbors, attracted by her alarm note, came and had a peep at the intruder and then flew away, but the male bird did not appear upon the scene. The final history of this nest I am unable to give, as I did not again visit it till late in the season, when, of course, it was empty.
Years pass without my finding a brown-thrasher's nest; it is not a nest you are likely to stumble upon in your walk; it is hidden as a miser108 hides his gold, and watched as jealously. The male pours out his rich and triumphant109 song from the tallest tree he can find, and fairly challenges you to come and look for his treasures in his vicinity. But you will not find them if you go. The nest is somewhere on the outer circle of his song; he is never so imprudent as to take up his stand very near it. The artists who draw those cosy110 little pictures of a brooding mother-bird with the male perched but a yard away in full song, do not copy from nature. The thrasher's nest I found thirty or forty rods from the point where the male was wont111 to indulge in his brilliant recitative. It was in an open field under a low ground-juniper. My dog disturbed the sitting bird as I was passing near. The nest could be seen only by lifting up and parting away the branches. All the arts of concealment had been carefully studied. It was the last place you would think of looking, and, if you did look, nothing was visible but the dense green circle of the low-spreading juniper. When you approached, the bird would keep her place till you had begun to stir the branches, when she would start out, and, just skimming the ground, make a bright brown line to the near fence and bushes. I confidently expected that this nest would escape molestation, but it did not. Its discovery by myself and dog probably opened the door for ill luck, as one day, not long afterward, when I peeped in upon it, it was empty. The proud song of the male had ceased from his accustomed tree, and the pair were seen no more in that vicinity.
The phoebe-bird is a wise architect, and perhaps enjoys as great an immunity112 from danger, both in its person and its nest, as any other bird. Its modest, ashen-gray suit is the color of the rocks where it builds, and the moss36 of which it makes such free use gives to its nest the look of a natural growth or accretion113. But when it comes into the barn or under the shed to build, as it so frequently does, the moss is rather out of place. Doubtless in time the bird will take the hint, and when she builds in such places will leave the moss out. I noted but two nests, the summer I am speaking of: one, in a barn, failed of issue, on account of the rats, I suspect, though the little owl may have been the depredator; the other, in the woods, sent forth three young. This latter nest was most charmingly and ingeniously placed. I discovered it while in quest of pond-lilies, in a long, deep level stretch of water in the woods. A large tree had blown over at the edge of the water, and its dense mass of up-turned roots, with the black, peaty soil filling the interstices, was like the fragment of a wall several feet high, rising from the edge of the languid current. In a niche114 in this earthy wall, and visible and accessible only from the water, a phoebe had built her nest, and reared her brood. I paddled my boat up and came alongside prepared to take the family aboard. The young, nearly ready to fly, were quite undisturbed by my presence, having probably been assured that no danger need be apprehended115 from that side. It was not a likely place for minks, or they would not have been so secure.
I noted but one nest of the wood pewee, and that, too, like so many other nests, failed of issue. It was saddled upon a small dry limb of a plane-tree that stood by the roadside, about forty feet from the ground. Every day for nearly a week, as I passed by I saw the sitting bird upon the nest. Then one morning she was not in her place, and on examination the nest proved to be empty—robbed, I had no doubt, by the red squirrels, as they were very abundant in its vicinity, and appeared to make a clean sweep of every nest. The wood pewee builds an exquisite116 nest, shaped and finished as if cast in a mould. It is modeled without and within with equal neatness and art, like the nest of the humming-bird and the little gray gnat-catcher. The material is much more refractory117 than that used by either of these birds, being, in the present case, dry, fine cedar twigs118; but these were bound into a shape as rounded and compact as could be moulded out of the most plastic material. Indeed, the nest of this bird looks precisely119 like a large, lichen-covered, cup-shaped excrescence of the limb upon which it is placed. And the bird, while sitting, seems entirely120 at ease. Most birds seem to make very hard work of incubation. It is a kind of martyrdom which appears to tax all their powers of endurance. They have such a fixed121, rigid122, predetermined look, pressed down into the nest and as motionless as if made of cast-iron. But the wood pewee is an exception. She is largely visible above the rim90 of the nest. Her attitude is easy and graceful123; she moves her head this way and that, and seems to take note of whatever goes on about her; and if her neighbor were to drop in for a little social chat, she could doubtless do her part. In fact, she makes light and easy work of what, to most other birds, is such a serious and engrossing124 matter. If it does not look like play with her, it at least looks like leisure and quiet contemplation.
There is no nest-builder that suffers more from crows and squirrels and other enemies than the wood-thrush. It builds as openly and unsuspiciously as if it thought the whole world as honest as itself. Its favorite place is the fork of a sapling, eight or ten feet from the ground, where it falls an easy prey to every nest-robber that comes prowling through the woods and groves125. It is not a bird that skulks126 and hides, like the cat-bird, the brown-thrasher, the chat, or the cheewink, and its nest is not concealed with the same art as theirs. Our thrushes are all frank, open-mannered birds; but the veery and the hermit127 build upon the ground, where they at least escape the crows, owls, and jays, and stand a better chance to be overlooked, by the red squirrel and weasel also; while the robin seeks the protection of dwellings and out-buildings. For years I have not known the nest of a wood-thrush to succeed. During the season referred to I observed but two, both apparently128 a second attempt, as the season was well advanced, and both failures. In one case, the nest was placed in a branch that an apple tree, standing near a dwelling57, held out over the highway. The structure was barely ten feet above the middle of the road, and would just escape a passing load of hay. It was made conspicuous129 by the use of a large fragment of newspaper in its foundation—an unsafe material to build upon in most cases. Whatever else the press may guard, this particular newspaper did not guard this nest from harm. It saw the egg and probably the chick, but not the fledgeling. A murderous deed was committed above the public highway, but whether in the open day or under cover of darkness I have no means of knowing. The frisky130 red squirrel was doubtless the culprit. The other nest was in a maple sapling, within a few yards of the little rustic summer-house already referred to. The first attempt of the season, I suspect, had failed in a more secluded131 place under the hill; so the pair had come up nearer the house for protection. The male sang in the trees near by for several days before I chanced to see the nest. The very morning, I think, it was finished, I saw a red squirrel exploring a tree but a few yards away; he probably knew what the singing meant as well as I did. I did not see the inside of the nest, for it was almost instantly deserted132, the female having probably laid a single egg, which the squirrel had devoured.
If I were a bird, in building my nest I should follow the example of the bobolink, placing it in the midst of a broad meadow, where there was no spear of grass, or flower or growth unlike another to mark its site. I judge that the bobolink escapes the dangers to which I have adverted133 as few or no other birds do. Unless the mowers come along at an earlier date than she has anticipated, that is, before July lst, or a skunk22 goes nosing through the grass, which is unusual, she is as safe as bird well can be in the great open of nature. She selects the most monotonous134 and uniform place she can find amid the daisies or the timothy and clover, and places her simple structure upon the ground in the midst of it. There is no concealment, except as the great conceals135 the little, as the desert conceals the pebble136, as the myriad137 conceals the unit. You may find the nest once, if your course chances to lead you across it and your eye is quick enough to note the silent brown bird as she darts138 quickly away; but step three paces in the wrong direction, and your search will probably be fruitless. My friend and I found a nest by accident one day, and then lost it again one minute afterward. I moved away a few yards to be sure of the mother-bird, charging my friend not to stir from his tracks. When I returned, he had moved two paces, he said (he had really moved four), and we spent a half hour stooping over the daisies and the buttercups, looking for the lost clew. We grew desperate, and fairly felt the ground all over with our hands, but without avail. I marked the spot with a bush, and came the next day, and with the bush as a centre, moved about it in slowly increasing circles, covering, I thought, nearly every inch of ground with my feet, and laying hold of it with all the visual power that I could command, till my patience was exhausted139, and I gave up, baffled. I began to doubt the ability of the parent birds themselves to find it, and so secreted140 myself and watched. After much delay, the male bird appeared with food in his beak, and satisfying himself that the coast was clear, dropped into the grass which I had trodden down in my search. Fastening my eye upon a particular meadow-lily, I walked straight to the spot, bent141 down, and gazed long and intently into the grass. Finally my eye separated the nest and its young from its surroundings. My foot had barely missed them in my search, but by how much they had escaped my eye I could not tell. Probably not by distance at all, but simply by unrecognition. They were virtually invisible. The dark gray and yellowish brown dry grass and stubble of the meadow-bottom were exactly copied in the color of the half-fledged young. More than that, they hugged the nest so closely and formed such a compact mass, that though there were five of them, they preserved the unit of expression,—no single head or form was defined; they were one, and that one was without shape or color, and not separable, except by closest scrutiny142, from the one of the meadow-bottom. That nest prospered143, as bobolinks' nests doubtless generally do; for, notwithstanding the enormous slaughter144 of the birds during their fall migrations145 by Southern sportsmen, the bobolink appears to hold its own, and its music does not diminish in our Northern meadows.
Birds with whom the struggle for life is the sharpest seem to be more prolific146 than those whose nest and young are exposed to fewer dangers. The robin, the sparrow, the pewee, etc., will rear, or make the attempt to rear, two and sometimes three broods in a season; but the bobolink, the oriole, the kingbird, the goldfinch, the cedar-bird, the birds of prey, and the woodpeckers, that build in safe retreats, in the trunks of trees, have usually but a single brood. If the boblink reared two broods, our meadows would swarm14 with them.
I noted three nests of the cedar-bird in August in a single orchard18, all productive, but all with one or more unfruitful eggs in them. The cedar-bird is the most silent of our birds having but a single fine note, so far as I have observed, but its manners are very expressive147 at times. No bird known to me is capable of expressing so much silent alarm while on the nest as this bird. As you ascend148 the tree and draw near it, it depresses its plumage and crest149, stretches up its neck, and becomes the very picture of fear. Other birds, under like circumstances, hardly change their expression at all till they launch into the air, when by their voice they express anger rather than alarm.
I have referred to the red squirrel as a destroyer of the eggs and young of birds. I think the mischief150 it does in this respect can hardly be over estimated. Nearly all birds look upon it as their enemy, and attack and annoy it when it appears near their breeding haunts. Thus, I have seen the pewee, the cuckoo, the robin, and the wood-thrush pursuing it with angry voice and gestures. A friend of mine saw a pair of robins attack one in the top of a tall tree so vigorously that they caused it to lose its hold, when it fell to the ground, and was so stunned151 by the blow as to allow him to pick it up. If you wish the birds to breed and thrive in your orchard and groves, kill every red squirrel that infests152 the place; kill every weasel also. The weasel is a subtle and arch enemy of the birds. It climbs trees and explores them with great ease and nimbleness. I have seen it do so on several occasions. One day my attention was arrested by the angry notes of a pair of brown-thrashers that were flitting from bush to bush along an old stone row in a remote field. Presently I saw what it was that excited them—three large red weasels, or ermines coming along the stone wall, and leisurely153 and half playfully exploring every tree that stood near it. They had probably robbed the thrashers. They would go up the trees with great ease, and glide154 serpent-like out upon the main branches. When they descended155 the tree they were unable to come straight down, like a squirrel, but went around it spirally. How boldly they thrust their heads out of the wall, and eyed me and sniffed156 me, as I drew near,—their round, thin ears, their prominent, glistening157, bead-like eyes, and the curving, snake-like motions of the head and neck being very noticeable. They looked like blood-suckers and egg-suckers. They suggested something extremely remorseless and cruel. One could understand the alarm of the rats when they discover one of these fearless, subtle, and circumventing158 creatures threading their holes. To flee must be like trying to escape death itself. I was one day standing in the woods upon a flat stone, in what at certain seasons was the bed of a stream, when one of these weasels came undulating along and ran under the stone upon which I was standing. As I remained motionless, he thrust his wedge-shaped head, and turned it back above the stone as if half in mind to seize my foot; then he drew back, and presently went his way. These weasels often hunt in packs like the British stoat. When I was a boy, my father one day armed me with an old musket159 and sent me to shoot chipmunks160 around the corn. While watching the squirrels, a troop of weasels tried to cross a bar-way where I sat, and were so bent on doing it that I fired at them, boy-like, simply to thwart161 their purpose. One of the weasels was disabled by my shot, but the troop was not discouraged, and, after making several feints to cross, one of them seized the wounded one and bore it over, and the pack disappeared in the wall on the other side.
Let me conclude this chapter with two or three notes about this alert enemy of the birds and the lesser162 animals, the weasel.
A farmer one day heard a queer growling163 sound in the grass; on approaching the spot he saw two weasels contending over a mouse; each had hold of the mouse pulling in opposite directions, and were so absorbed in the struggle that the farmer cautiously put his hands down and grabbed them both by the back of the neck. He put them in a cage, and offered them bread and other food. This they refused to eat, but in a few days one of them had eaten the other up, picking his bones clean and leaving nothing but the skeleton.
The same farmer was one day in his cellar when two rats came out of a hole near him in great haste, and ran up the cellar wall and along its top till they came to a floor timber that stopped their progress, when they turned at bay, and looked excitedly back along the course they had come. In a moment a weasel, evidently in hot pursuit of them, came out of the hole, and seeing the farmer, checked his course and darted164 back. The rats had doubtless turned to give him fight, and would probably have been a match for him.
The weasel seems to track its game by scent165. A hunter of my acquaintance was one day sitting in the woods, when he saw a red squirrel run with great speed up a tree near him, and out upon a long branch, from which he leaped to some rocks, and disappeared beneath them. In a moment a weasel came in full course upon his trail, ran up the tree, then out along the branch, from the end of which he leaped to the rocks as the squirrel did, and plunged166 beneath them.
Doubtless the squirrel fell a prey to him. The squirrel's best game would have been to have kept to the higher tree-tops, where he could easily have distanced the weasel. But beneath the rocks he stood a very poor chance. I have often wondered what keeps such an animal as the weasel in check, for weasels are quite rare. They never need go hungry, for rats and squirrels and mice and birds are everywhere. They probably do not fall a prey to any other animal, and very rarely to man. But the circumstances or agencies that check the increase of any species of animal are, as Darwin says, very obscure and but little known.
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1
migratory
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| n.候鸟，迁移 | |
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2
advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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3
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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robins
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| n.知更鸟，鸫( robin的名词复数 )；（签名者不分先后，以避免受责的）圆形签名抗议书（或请愿书） | |
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larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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10
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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12
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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13
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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14
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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15
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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16
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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orchard
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| n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场 | |
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19
orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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21
skunks
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| n.臭鼬( skunk的名词复数 )；臭鼬毛皮；卑鄙的人；可恶的人 | |
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22
skunk
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| n.臭鼬，黄鼠狼；v.使惨败，使得零分；烂醉如泥 | |
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23
minks
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| n.水貂( mink的名词复数 )；水貂皮 | |
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24
infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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26
persevere
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| v.坚持，坚忍，不屈不挠 | |
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27
waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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28
molested
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| v.骚扰( molest的过去式和过去分词 )；干扰；调戏；猥亵 | |
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29
cedar
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| n.雪松，香柏(木) | |
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30
harried
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| v.使苦恼( harry的过去式和过去分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰 | |
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31
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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32
prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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35
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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36
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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38
hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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39
calamities
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| n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事 | |
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40
pillage
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| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
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41
massacre
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| n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀 | |
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42
molestation
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| n.骚扰，干扰，调戏；折磨 | |
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43
chirping
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的现在分词 ) | |
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44
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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45
plundered
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| 掠夺，抢劫( plunder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
denizen
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| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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47
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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48
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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50
propensity
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| n.倾向；习性 | |
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51
pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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52
crevices
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| n.（尤指岩石的）裂缝，缺口( crevice的名词复数 ) | |
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53
embalmed
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| adj.用防腐药物保存（尸体）的v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的过去式和过去分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气 | |
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54
liberated
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| a.无拘束的，放纵的 | |
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55
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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56
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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57
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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58
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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59
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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60
lessens
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| 变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物） | |
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disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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62
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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63
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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64
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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65
complement
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| n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足 | |
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66
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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67
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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68
shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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69
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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70
twig
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| n.小树枝，嫩枝；v.理解 | |
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71
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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72
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73
desecrated
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| 毁坏或亵渎( desecrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
gorged
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| v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的过去式和过去分词 )；作呕 | |
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75
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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76
abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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78
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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79
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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80
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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81
drooping
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| adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词 | |
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82
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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83
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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84
tint
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| n.淡色，浅色；染发剂；vt.着以淡淡的颜色 | |
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arboreal
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| adj.树栖的；树的 | |
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maple
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| n.槭树，枫树，槭木 | |
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parasitical
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| adj. 寄生的(符加的) | |
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wrens
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| n.鹪鹩( wren的名词复数 ) | |
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89
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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90
rim
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| n.(圆物的)边，轮缘；边界 | |
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outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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93
hoggish
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| adj.贪婪的 | |
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94
overridden
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| 越控( override的过去分词 )； （以权力）否决； 优先于； 比…更重要 | |
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95
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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96
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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97
rustic
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| adj.乡村的，有乡村特色的；n.乡下人，乡巴佬 | |
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98
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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99
beaks
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| n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者 | |
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100
knotty
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| adj.有结的，多节的，多瘤的，棘手的 | |
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101
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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102
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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103
hemlock
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| n.毒胡萝卜，铁杉 | |
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104
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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105
misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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106
chilly
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| adj.凉快的，寒冷的 | |
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107
instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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108
miser
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| n.守财奴，吝啬鬼 (adj.miserly) | |
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109
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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110
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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111
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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112
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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113
accretion
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| n.自然的增长，增加物 | |
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114
niche
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| n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等) | |
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115
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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116
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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117
refractory
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| adj.倔强的，难驾驭的 | |
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118
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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119
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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120
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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121
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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122
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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123
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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124
engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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125
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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126
skulks
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| v.潜伏，偷偷摸摸地走动，鬼鬼祟祟地活动( skulk的第三人称单数 ) | |
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127
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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128
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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129
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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130
frisky
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| adj.活泼的，欢闹的；n.活泼，闹着玩；adv.活泼地，闹着玩地 | |
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131
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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132
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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adverted
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| 引起注意（advert的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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134
monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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135
conceals
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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136
pebble
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| n.卵石，小圆石 | |
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137
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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138
darts
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| n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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139
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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140
secreted
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| v.（尤指动物或植物器官）分泌( secrete的过去式和过去分词 )；隐匿，隐藏 | |
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141
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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142
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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143
prospered
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| 成功，兴旺( prosper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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144
slaughter
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| n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀 | |
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145
migrations
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| n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 ) | |
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146
prolific
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| adj.丰富的，大量的；多产的，富有创造力的 | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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148
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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149
crest
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| n.顶点；饰章；羽冠；vt.达到顶点；vi.形成浪尖 | |
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150
mischief
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| n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹 | |
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stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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152
infests
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| n.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的名词复数 )；遍布于v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的第三人称单数 )；遍布于 | |
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153
leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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154
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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155
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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156
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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157
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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158
circumventing
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| v.设法克服或避免（某事物），回避( circumvent的现在分词 )；绕过，绕行，绕道旅行 | |
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159
musket
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| n.滑膛枪 | |
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160
chipmunks
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| n.金花鼠( chipmunk的名词复数 ) | |
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161
thwart
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| v.阻挠，妨碍，反对；adj.横(断的) | |
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162
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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163
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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164
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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165
scent
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| n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉 | |
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166
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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