Whenever you have learned to discriminate5 the birds, or the plants, or the geological features of a country, it is as if new and keener eyes were added.
Of course one must not only see sharply, but read aright what he sees. The facts in the life of Nature that are transpiring6 about us are like written words that the observer is to arrange into sentences. Or the writing is in cipher7 and he must furnish the key. A female oriole was one day observed very much preoccupied8 under a shed where the refuse from the horse stable was thrown. She hopped9 about among the barn fowls10, scolding them sharply when they came too near her. The stable, dark and cavernous, was just beyond. The bird, not finding what she wanted outside, boldly ventured into the stable, and was presently captured by the farmer. What did she want? was the query12. What, but a horsehair for her nest which was in an apple-tree near by; and she was so bent13 on having one that I have no doubt she would have tweaked one out of the horse's tail had he been in the stable. Later in the season I examined her nest and found it sewed through and through with several long horse hairs, so that the bird persisted in her search till the hair was found.
Little dramas and tragedies and comedies, little characteristic scenes, are always being enacted14 in the lives of the birds, if our eyes are sharp enough to see them. Some clever observer saw this little comedy played among some English sparrows and wrote an account of it in his newspaper; it is too good not to be true: A male bird brought to his box a large, fine goose feather, which is a great find for a sparrow and much coveted15. After he had deposited his prize and chattered16 his gratulations over it he went away in quest of his mate. His next-door neighbor, a female bird, seeing her chance, quickly slipped in and seized the feather,—and here the wit of the bird came out, for instead of carrying it into her own box she flew with it to a near tree and hid it in a fork of the branches, then went home, and when her neighbor returned with his mate was innocently employed about her own affairs. The proud male, finding his feather gone, came out of his box in a high state of excitement, and, with wrath17 in his manner and accusation18 on his tongue, rushed into the cot of the female. Not finding his goods and chattels19 there as he had expected, he stormed around a while, abusing everybody in general and his neighbor in particular, and then went away as if to repair the loss. As soon as he was out of sight, the shrewd thief went and brought the feather home and lined her own domicile with it.
I was much amused one summer day in seeing a bluebird feeding her young one in the shaded street of a large town. She had captured a cicada or harvest-fly, and after bruising20 it a while on the ground flew with it to a tree and placed it in the beak21 of the young bird. It was a large morsel22, and the mother seemed to have doubts of her chick's ability to dispose of it, for she stood near and watched its efforts with great solicitude23. The young bird struggled valiantly24 with the cicada, but made no head way in swallowing it, when the mother took it from him and flew to the sidewalk, and proceeded to break and bruise25 it more thoroughly26. Then she again placed it in his beak, and seemed to say, "There, try it now," and sympathized so thoroughly with his efforts that she repeated many of his motions and contortions27. But the great fly was unyielding, and, indeed, seemed ridiculously disproportioned to the beak that held it. The young bird fluttered and fluttered and screamed, "I'm stuck, I'm stuck," till the anxious parent again seized the morsel and carried it to an iron railing, where she came down upon it for the space of a minute with all the force and momentum28 her beak could command. Then she offered it to her young a third time, but with the same result as before, except that this time the bird dropped it; but she was at the ground as soon as the cicada was, and taking it in her beak flew some distance to a high board fence where she sat motionless for some moments. While pondering the problem how that fly should be broken, the male bluebird approached her, and said very plainly, and I thought rather curtly29, "Give me that bug," but she quickly resented his interference and flew farther away, where she sat apparently30 quite discouraged when I last saw her.
The bluebird is a home bird, and I am never tired of recurring31 to him. His coming or reappearance in the spring marks a new chapter in the progress of the season; things are never quite the same after one has heard that note. The past spring the males came about a week in advance of the females. A fine male lingered about my grounds and orchard32 all the time, apparently waiting the arrival of his mate. He called and warbled every day, as if he felt sure she was within ear-shot, and could be hurried up. Now he warbled half-angrily or upbraidingly, then coaxingly33, then cheerily and confidently, the next moment in a plaintive35, far-away manner. He would half open his wings, and twinkle them caressingly36, as if beckoning37 his mate to his heart. One morning she had come, but was shy and reserved. The fond male flew to a knot-hole in an old apple-tree, and coaxed38 her to his side. I heard a fine confidential39 warble,—the old, old story. But the female flew to a near tree, and uttered her plaintive, homesick note. The male went and got some dry grass or bark in his beak, and flew again to the hole in the old tree, and promised unremitting devotion, but the other said "nay," and flew away in the distance. When he saw her going, or rather heard her distant note, he dropped his stuff, and cried out in a tone that said plainly enough, "Wait a minute. One word, please," and flew swiftly in pursuit. He won her before long, however, and early in April the pair were established in one of the four or five boxes I had put up for them, but not until they had changed their minds several times. As soon as the first brood had flown, and while they were yet under their parents' care, they began another nest in one of the other boxes, the female, as usual, doing all the work, and the male all the complimenting.
A source of occasional great distress40 to the mother-bird was a white cat that sometimes followed me about. The cat had never been known to catch a bird, but she had a way of watching them that was very embarrassing to the bird. Whenever she appeared, the mother bluebird would set up that pitiful melodious41 plaint. One morning the cat was standing42 by me, when the bird came with her beak loaded with building material, and alighted above me to survey the place before going into the box. When she saw the cat, she was greatly disturbed, and in her agitation43 could not keep her hold upon all her material. Straw after straw came eddying44 down, till not half her original burden remained. After the cat had gone away, the bird's alarm subsided45, till, presently seeing the coast clear, she flew quickly to the box and pitched in her remaining straws with the greatest precipitation, and, without going in to arrange them, as was her wont46, flew away in evident relief.
In the cavity of an apple-tree but a few yards off, and much nearer the house than they usually build, a pair of high-holes, or golden-shafted woodpeckers, took up their abode47. A knot-hole which led to the decayed interior was enlarged, the live wood being cut away as clean as a squirrel would have done it. The inside preparations I could not witness, but day after day, as I passed near, I heard the bird hammering away, evidently beating down obstructions48 and shaping and enlarging the cavity. The chips were not brought out, but were used rather to floor the interior. The woodpeckers are not nest-builders, but rather nest-carvers.
The time seemed very short before the voices of the young were heard in the heart of the old tree,—at first feebly, but waxing stronger day by day until they could be heard many rods distant. When I put my hand upon the trunk of the tree, they would set up an eager, expectant chattering49; but if I climbed up it toward the opening, they soon detected the unusual sound and would hush50 quickly, only now and then uttering a warning note. Long before they were fully51 fledged they clambered up to the orifice to receive their food. As but one could stand in the opening at a time, there was a good deal of elbowing and struggling for this position. It was a very desirable one aside from the advantages it had when food was served; it looked out upon the great shining world, into which the young birds seemed never tired of gazing. The fresh air must have been a consideration also, for the interior of a high-hole's dwelling52 is not sweet. When the parent birds came with food the young one in the opening did not get it all, but after he had received a portion, either on his own motion or on a hint from the old one, he would give place to the one behind him. Still, one bird evidently outstripped53 his fellows, and in the race of life, was two or three days in advance of them. His voice was loudest and his head oftenest at the window. But I noticed that when he had kept the position too long, the others evidently made it uncomfortable in his rear, and, after "fidgeting" about a while, he would be compelled to "back down." But retaliation54 was then easy, and I fear his mates spent few easy moments at that lookout55. They would close their eyes and slide back into the cavity as if the world had suddenly lost all its charms for them.
This bird was, of course, the first to leave the nest. For two days before that event he kept his position in the opening most of the time and sent forth56 his strong voice incessantly57. The old ones abstained58 from feeding him almost entirely59, no doubt to encourage his exit. As I stood looking at him one afternoon and noting his progress, he suddenly reached a resolution,—seconded, I have no doubt, from the rear,—and launched forth upon his untried wings. They served him well and carried him about fifty yards up-hill the first heat. The second day after, the next in size and spirit left in the same manner; then another, till only one remained. The parent birds ceased their visits to him, and for one day he called and called till our ears were tired of the sound. His was the faintest heart of all. Then he had none to encourage him from behind. He left the nest and clung to the outer bowl of the tree, and yelped60 and piped for an hour longer; then he committed himself to his wings and went his way like the rest.
A young farmer in the western part of New York, who has a sharp, discriminating61 eye, sends me some interesting notes about a tame high-hole he once had.
"Did you ever notice," says he, "that the high-hole never eats anything that he cannot pick up with his tongue? At least this was the case with a young one I took from the nest and tamed. He could thrust out his tongue two or three inches, and it was amusing to see his efforts to eat currants from the hand. He would run out his tongue and try to stick it to the currant; failing in that, he would bend his tongue around it like a hook and try to raise it by a sudden jerk. But he never succeeded, the round fruit would roll and slip away every time. He never seemed to think of taking it in his beak. His tongue was in constant use to find out the nature of everything he saw; a nail-hole in a board or any similar hole was carefully explored. If he was held near the face he would soon be attracted by the eye and thrust his tongue into it. In this way he gained the respect of a number of half-grown cats that were around the house. I wished to make them familiar to each other, so there would be less danger of their killing62 him. So I would take them both on my knee, when the bird would soon notice the kitten's eyes, and leveling his bill as carefully as a marksman levels his rifle, he would remain so a minute when he would dart63 his tongue into the cat's eye. This was held by the cats to be very mysterious: being struck in the eye by something invisible to them. They soon acquired such a terror of him that they would avoid him and run away whenever they saw his bill turned in their direction. He never would swallow a grasshopper64 even when it was placed in his throat; he would shake himself until he had thrown it out of his mouth. His 'best hold' was ants. He never was surprised at anything, and never was afraid of anything. He would drive the turkey gobbler and the rooster. He would advance upon them holding one wing up as high as possible, as if to strike with it, and shuffle65 along the ground toward them, scolding all the while in a harsh voice. I feared at first that they might kill him, but I soon found that he was able to take care of himself. I would turn over stones and dig into ant-hills for him, and he would lick up the ants so fast that a stream of them seemed going into his mouth unceasingly. I kept him till late in the fall, when he disappeared, probably going south, and I never saw him again."
My correspondent also sends me some interesting observations about the cuckoo. He says a large gooseberry bush standing in the border of an old hedgerow, in the midst of open fields, and not far from his house, was occupied by a pair of cuckoos for two seasons in succession, and, after an interval66 of a year, for two seasons more. This gave him a good chance to observe them. He says the mother-bird lays a single egg, and sits upon it a number of days before laying the second, so that he has seen one young bird nearly grown, a second just hatched, and a whole egg all in the nest at once. "So far as I have seen, this is the settled practice,—the young leaving the nest one at a time to the number of six or eight. The young have quite the look of the young of the dove in many respects. When nearly grown they are covered with long blue pin-feathers as long as darning-needles, without a bit of plumage on them. They part on the back and hang down on each side by their own weight. With its curious feathers and misshapen body the young bird is anything but handsome. They never open their mouths when approached, as many young birds do, but sit perfectly67 still, hardly moving when touched." He also notes the unnatural68 indifference69 of the mother-bird when her nest and young are approached. She makes no sound, but sits quietly on a near branch in apparent perfect unconcern.
These observations, together with the fact that the egg of the cuckoo is occasionally found in the nests of other birds, raise the inquiry70 whether our bird is slowly relapsing into the habit of the European species, which always foists71 its egg upon other birds; or whether, on the other hand, it is not mending its manners in this respect. It has but little to unlearn or to forget in the one case, but great progress to make in the other. How far is its rudimentary nest—a mere72 platform of coarse twigs73 and dry stalks of weeds—from the deep, compact, finely woven and finely modeled nest of the goldfinch or king-bird, and what a gulf74 between its indifference toward its young and their solicitude! Its irregular manner of laying also seems better suited to a parasite75 like our cow-bird, or the European cuckoo, than to a regular nest-builder.
This observer, like most sharp-eyed persons, sees plenty of interesting things as he goes about his work. He one day saw a white swallow, which is of rare occurrence. He saw a bird, a sparrow he thinks, fly against the side of a horse and fill his beak with hair from the loosened coat of the animal. He saw a shrike pursue a chickadee, when the latter escaped by taking refuge in a small hole in a tree. One day in early spring he saw two hen-hawks77 that were circling and screaming high in air, approach each other, extend a claw, and, clasping them together, fall toward the earth flapping and struggling as if they were tied together; on nearing the ground they separated and soared aloft again. He supposed that it was not a passage of war but of love, and that the hawks were toying fondly with each other.
He further relates a curious circumstance of finding a humming-bird in the upper part of a barn with its bill stuck fast in a crack of one of the large timbers, dead, of course, with wings extended, and as dry as a chip. The bird seems to have died as it had lived, on the wing, and its last act was indeed a ghastly parody79 of its living career. Fancy this nimble, flashing sprite, whose life was passed probing the honeyed depths of flowers, at last thrusting its bill into a crack in a dry timber in a hayloft, and, with spread wings, ending its existence.
When the air is damp and heavy, swallows frequently hawk76 for insects about cattle and moving herds80 in the field. My farmer describes how they attended him one foggy day, as he was mowing81 in the meadow with a mowing-machine. It had been foggy for two days, and the swallows were very hungry, and the insects stupid and inert82. When the sound of his machine was heard, the swallows appeared and attended him like a brood of hungry chickens. He says there was a continued rush of purple wings over the "cut-bar," and just where it was causing the grass to tremble and fall. Without his assistance the swallows would doubtless have gone hungry yet another day.
Of the hen-hawk, he has observed that both male and female take part in incubation. "I was rather surprised," he says, "on one occasion, to see how quickly they change places on the nest. The nest was in a tall beech83, and the leaves were not yet fully out. I could see the head and neck of the hawk over the edge of the nest, when I saw the other hawk coming down through the air at full speed. I expected he would alight near by, but instead of that he struck directly upon the nest, his mate getting out of the way barely in time to avoid being hit; it seemed almost as if he had knocked her off the nest. I hardly see how they can make such a rush on the nest without danger to the eggs."
The king-bird will worry the hawk as a whiffet dog will worry a bear. It is by his persistence84 and audacity85, not by any injury he is capable of dealing86 his great antagonist87. The king-bird seldom more than dogs the hawk, keeping above and between his wings, and making a great ado; but my correspondent says he once "saw a king-bird riding on a hawk's back. The hawk flew as fast as possible, and the king-bird sat upon his shoulders in triumph until they had passed out of sight,"—tweaking his feathers, no doubt, and threatening to scalp him the next moment.
That near relative of the king-bird, the great crested88 fly-catcher, has one well known peculiarity89: he appears never to consider his nest finished until it contains a cast-off snake-skin. My alert correspondent one day saw him eagerly catch up an onion skin and make off with it, either deceived by it or else thinking it a good substitute for the coveted material.
One day in May, walking in the woods, I came upon the nest of a whippoorwill, or rather its eggs, for it builds no nest,—two elliptical whitish spotted91 eggs lying upon the dry leaves. My foot was within a yard of the mother-bird before she flew. I wondered what a sharp eye would detect curious or characteristic in the ways of the bird, so I came to the place many times and had a look. It was always a task to separate the bird from her surroundings though I stood within a few feet of her, and knew exactly where to look. One had to bear on with his eye, as it were, and refuse to be baffled. The sticks and leaves, and bits of black or dark-brown bark, were all exactly copied in the bird's plumage. And then she did sit so close, and simulate so well a shapeless decaying piece of wood or bark! Twice I brought a companion, and guiding his eye to the spot, noted92 how difficult it was for him to make out there, in full view upon the dry leaves, any semblance93 to a bird. When the bird returned after being disturbed, she would alight within a few inches of her eggs, and then, after a moment's pause, hobble awkwardly upon them.
After the young had appeared, all the wit of the bird came into play. I was on hand the next day, I think. The mother-bird sprang up when I was within a pace of her, and in doing so fanned the leaves with her wings till they sprang up too; as the leaves started the young started, and, being of the same color, to tell which was the leaf and which the bird was a trying task to any eye. I came the next day, when the same tactics were repeated. Once a leaf fell upon one of the young birds and nearly hid it. The young are covered with a reddish down like a young partridge, and soon follow their mother about. When disturbed, they gave but one leap, then settled down, perfectly motionless and stupid, with eyes closed. The parent bird, on these occasions made frantic94 efforts to decoy me away from her young. She would fly a few paces and fall upon her breast, and a spasm95, like that of death, would run through her tremulous outstretched wings and prostrate96 body. She kept a sharp eye out the meanwhile to see if the ruse97 took, and if it did not, she was quickly cured, and moving about to some other point tried to draw my attention as before. When followed she always alighted upon the ground, dropping down in a sudden peculiar90 way. The second or third day both old and young had disappeared.
The whippoorwill walks as awkwardly as a swallow, which is as awkward as a man in a bag, and yet she manages to lead her young about the woods. The latter, I think, move by leaps and sudden spurts98, their protective coloring shielding them most effectively. Wilson once came upon the mother-bird and her brood in the woods, and, though they were at his very feet, was so baffled by the concealment99 of the young that he was about to give up the search, much disappointed, when he perceived something "like a slight moldiness among the withered100 leaves, and, on stooping down, discovered it to be a young whippoorwill seemingly asleep." Wilson's description of the young is very accurate, as its downy covering does look precisely101 like a "slight moldiness." Returning a few moments afterward102 to the spot to get a pencil he had forgotten, he could find neither old nor young.
It takes an eye to see a partridge in the woods motionless upon the leaves; this sense needs to be as sharp as that of smell in hounds and pointers; and yet I know an unkempt youth that seldom fails to see the bird and shoot it before it takes wing. I think he sees it as soon as it sees him and before it suspects itself seen. What a training to the eye is hunting! To pick out the game from its surroundings, the grouse103 from the leaves, the gray squirrel from the mossy oak limb it hugs so closely, the red fox from the ruddy or brown or gray field, the rabbit from the stubble, or the white hare from the snow requires the best powers of this sense. A woodchuck, motionless in the fields or upon a rock, looks very much like a large stone or bowlder, yet a keen eye knows the difference at a glance, a quarter of a mile away.
A man has a sharper eye than a dog, or a fox, or than any of the wild creatures, but not so sharp an ear or nose. But in the birds he finds his match. How quickly the old turkey discovers the hawk, a mere speck104 against the sky, and how quickly the hawk discovers you if you happen to be secreted105 in the bushes or behind the fence near which he alights! One advantage the bird surely has, and that is, owing to the form, structure, and position of the eye, it has a much larger field of vision—indeed, can probably see in nearly every direction at the same instant, behind as well as before. Man's field of vision embraces less than half a circle horizontally, and still less vertically106; his brow and brain prevent him from seeing within many degrees of the zenith without a movement of the head; the bird on the other hand, takes in nearly the whole sphere at a glance.
I find I see almost without effort nearly every bird within sight in the field or wood I pass through (a flit of the wing, a flirt107 of the tail are enough, though the flickering108 leaves do all conspire109 to hide them), and that with like ease the birds see me, though, unquestionably, the chances are immensely in their favor. The eye sees what it has the means of seeing, truly. You must have the bird in your heart before you can find it in the bush. The eye must have purpose and aim. No one ever yet found the walking fern who did not have the walking fern in his mind. A person whose eye is full of Indian relics110 picks them up in every field he walks through.
One season I was interested in the tree-frogs; especially the tiny piper that one hears about the woods and brushy fields—the hyla of the swamps become a denizen111 of the trees; I had never seen him in this new role. But this season, having hylas in mind, or rather being ripe for them, I several times came across them. One Sunday, walking amid some bushes, I captured two. They leaped before me as doubtless they had done many times before; but though I was not looking for or thinking of them, yet they were quickly recognized, because the eye had been commissioned to find them. On another occasion, not long afterward, I was hurriedly loading my gun in the October woods in hopes of overtaking a gray squirrel that was fast escaping through the tree-tops, when one of these lilliput frogs, the color of the fast-yellowing leaves, leaped near me. I saw him only out of the corner of my eye and yet bagged him, because I had already made him my own.
Nevertheless, the habit of observation is the habit of clear and decisive gazing. Not by a first casual glance, but by a steady deliberate aim of the eye are the rare and characteristic things discovered. You must look intently and hold your eye firmly to the spot, to see more than do the rank and file of mankind. The sharp-shooter picks out his man and knows him with fatal certainty from a stump112, or a rock, or a cap on a pole. The phrenologists do well to locate, not only form, color, and weight, in the region of the eye, but also a faculty113 which they call individuality—that which separates, discriminates114, and sees in every object its essential character. This is just as necessary to the naturalist115 as to the artist or the poet. The sharp eye notes specific points and differences,—it seizes upon and preserves the individuality of the thing. Persons frequently describe to me some bird they have seen or heard and ask me to name it, but in most cases the bird might be any one of a dozen, or else it is totally unlike any bird found in this continent. They have either seen falsely or else vaguely116. Not so the farm youth who wrote me one winter day that he had seen a single pair of strange birds, which he describes as follows: "They were about the size of the 'chippie,' the tops of their heads were red, and the breast of the male was of the same color, while that of the female was much lighter117; their rumps were also faintly tinged118 with red. If I have described them so that you would know them, please write me their names." There can be little doubt but the young observer had seen a pair of red-polls,—a bird related to the goldfinch, and that occasionally comes down to us in the winter from the far north. Another time, the same youth wrote that he had seen a strange bird, the color of a sparrow, that alighted on fences and buildings as well as upon the ground, and that walked. This last fact shoved the youth's discriminating eye and settled the case. I knew it to be a species of the lark119, and from the size, color, season, etc., the tit-lark. But how many persons would have observed that the bird walked instead of hopped?
Some friends of mine who lived in the country tried to describe to me a bird that built a nest in a tree within a few feet of the house. As it was a brown bird, I should have taken it for a wood-thrush, had not the nest been described as so thin and loose that from beneath the eggs could be distinctly seen. The most pronounced feature in the description was the barred appearance of the under side of the bird's tail. I was quite at sea, until one day, when we were driving out, a cuckoo flew across the road in front of us, when my friends exclaimed, "There is our bird!" I had never known a cuckoo to build near a house, and I had never noted the appearance the tail presents when viewed from beneath; but if the bird had been described in its most obvious features, as slender, with a long tail, cinnamon brown above and white beneath, with a curved bill, anyone who knew the bird would have recognized the portrait.
We think we have looked at a thing sharply until we are asked for its specific features. I thought I knew exactly the form of the leaf of the tulip-tree, until one day a lady asked me to draw the outline of one. A good observer is quick to take a hint and to follow it up. Most of the facts of nature, especially in the life of the birds and animals, are well screened. We do not see the play because we do not look intently enough. The other day I was sitting with a friend upon a high rock in the woods, near a small stream, when we saw a water-snake swimming across a pool toward the opposite bank. Any eye would have noted it, perhaps nothing more. A little closer and sharper gaze revealed the fact that the snake bore something in its mouth, which, as we went down to investigate, proved to be a small cat-fish, three or four inches long. The snake had captured it in the pool, and, like any other fisherman, wanted to get its prey120 to dry land, although itself lived mostly in the water. Here, we said, is being enacted a little tragedy, that would have escaped any but sharp eyes. The snake, which was itself small, had the fish by the throat, the hold of vantage among all creatures, and clung to it with great tenacity121. The snake knew that its best tactics was to get upon dry land as soon as possible. It could not swallow its victim alive, and it could not strangle it in the water. For a while it tried to kill its game by holding it up out of the water, but the fish grew heavy, and every few moments its struggles brought down the snake's head. This would not do. Compressing the fish's throat would not shut off its breath under such circumstances, so the wily serpent tried to get ashore122 with it, and after several attempts succeeded in effecting a landing on a flat rock. But the fish died hard. Cat-fish do not give up the ghost in a hurry. Its throat was becoming congested, but the snake's distended123 jaws124 must have ached. It was like a petrified125 gape126. Then the spectators became very curious and close in their scrutiny127, and the snake determined128 to withdraw from the public gaze and finish the business in hand to its own notions. But, when gently but firmly remonstrated129 with by my friend with his walking-stick, it dropped the fish and retreated in high dudgeon beneath a stone in the bed of the creek130. The fish, with a swollen131 and angry throat, went its way also.
Birds, I say, have wonderfully keen eyes. Throw a fresh bone or a piece of meat upon the snow in winter, and see how soon the crows will discover it and be on hand. If it be near the house or barn, the crow that first discovers it will alight near it, to make sure he is not deceived; then he will go away, and soon return with a companion. The two alight a few yards from the bone, and after some delay, during which the vicinity is sharply scrutinized132, one of the crows advances boldly to within a few feet of the coveted prize. Here he pauses, and if no trick is discovered, and the meat be indeed meat, he seizes it and makes off.
One midwinter I cleared away the snow under an apple-tree near the house and scattered133 some corn there. I had not seen a blue-jay for weeks, yet that very day one found my corn, and after that several came daily and partook of it, holding the kernels134 under their feet upon the limbs of the trees and pecking them vigorously.
Of course the woodpecker and his kind have sharp eyes; still I was surprised to see how quickly Downy found out some bones that were placed in a convenient place under the shed to be pounded up for the hens. In going out to the barn I often disturbed him making a meal off the bite of meat that still adhered to them.
"Look intently enough at anything," said a poet to me one day, "and you will see something that would otherwise escape you." I thought of the remark as I sat on a stump in an opening of the woods one spring day. I saw a small hawk approaching; he flew to a tall tulip-tree and alighted on a large limb near the top. He eyed me and I eyed him. Then the bird disclosed a trait that was new to me: he hopped along the limb to a small cavity near the trunk, when he thrust in his head and pulled out some small object and fell to eating it. After he had partaken of it for some minutes he put the remainder back in his larder135 and flew away. I had seen something like feathers eddying slowly down as the hawk ate, and on approaching the spot found the feathers of a sparrow here and there clinging to the bushes beneath the tree. The hawk then—commonly called the chicken hawk—is as provident136 as a mouse or a squirrel, and lays by a store against a time of need, but I should not have discovered the fact had I not held my eye on him.
An observer of the birds is attracted by any unusual sound or commotion137 among them. In May or June, when other birds are most vocal138, the jay is a silent bird; he goes sneaking139 about the orchards140 and the groves141 as silent as a pickpocket142; he is robbing bird's-nests and he is very anxious that nothing should be said about it; but in the fall none so quick and loud to cry "Thief, thief!" as he. One December morning a troop of jays discovered a little screech-owl11 secreted in the hollow trunk of an old apple-tree near my house. How they found the owl out is a mystery, since it never ventures forth in the light of day; but they did, and proclaimed the fact with great emphasis. I suspect the bluebirds first told them, for these birds are constantly peeping into holes and crannies, both spring and fall. Some unsuspecting bird had probably entered the cavity prospecting143 for a place for next year's nest, or else looking out a likely place to pass a cold night, and then had rushed out with important news. A boy who should unwittingly venture into a bear's den34 when Bruin was at home could not be more astonished and alarmed than a bluebird would be on finding itself in the cavity of a decayed tree with an owl. At any rate the bluebirds joined the jays in calling the attention of all whom it might concern to the fact that a culprit of some sort was hiding from the light of day in the old apple-tree. I heard the notes of warning and alarm and approached to within eye-shot. The bluebirds were cautious and hovered144 about uttering their peculiar twittering calls; but the jays were bolder and took turns looking in at the cavity, and deriding145 the poor shrinking owl. A jay would alight in the entrance of the hole and flirt and peer and attitudinize, and then flyaway crying "Thief, thief, thief!" at the top of his voice.
I climbed up and peered into the opening, and could just descry146 the owl clinging to the inside of the tree. I reached in and took him out, giving little heed147 to the threatening snapping of his beak. He was as red as a fox and as yellow-eyed as a cat. He made no effort to escape, but planted his claws in my forefinger148 and clung there with a grip that soon grew uncomfortable. I placed him in the loft78 of an out-house in hopes of getting better acquainted with him. By day he was a very willing prisoner, scarcely moving at all, even when approached and touched with the hand, but looking out upon the world with half-closed, sleepy eyes. But at night what a change; how alert, how wild, how active! He was like another bird; he darted149 about with wide, fearful eyes, and regarded me like a cornered cat. I opened the window, and swiftly, but as silent as a shadow, he glided150 out into the congenial darkness, and perhaps, ere this, has revenged himself upon the sleeping jay or bluebird that first betrayed his hiding-place.
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1
infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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Augmented
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| adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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6
transpiring
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的现在分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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7
cipher
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| n.零；无影响力的人；密码 | |
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preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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9
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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12
query
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| n.疑问，问号，质问；vt.询问，表示怀疑 | |
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13
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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14
enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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16
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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17
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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chattels
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| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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bruising
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| adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式) | |
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21
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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23
solicitude
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| n.焦虑 | |
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24
valiantly
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| adv.勇敢地，英勇地；雄赳赳 | |
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25
bruise
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| n.青肿，挫伤；伤痕；vt.打青；挫伤 | |
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26
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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contortions
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| n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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28
momentum
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| n.动力，冲力，势头；动量 | |
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29
curtly
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| adv.简短地 | |
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30
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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31
recurring
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| adj.往复的，再次发生的 | |
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32
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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33
coaxingly
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| adv. 以巧言诱哄，以甘言哄骗 | |
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34
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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35
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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36
caressingly
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| 爱抚地，亲切地 | |
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37
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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38
coaxed
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| v.哄，用好话劝说( coax的过去式和过去分词 )；巧言骗取；哄劝，劝诱 | |
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39
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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40
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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41
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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42
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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43
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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44
eddying
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| 涡流，涡流的形成 | |
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45
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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46
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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47
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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48
obstructions
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| n.障碍物( obstruction的名词复数 )；阻碍物；阻碍；阻挠 | |
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49
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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50
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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51
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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52
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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53
outstripped
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| v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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55
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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56
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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57
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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58
abstained
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| v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票） | |
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59
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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60
yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
discriminating
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| a.有辨别能力的 | |
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62
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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63
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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64
grasshopper
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| n.蚱蜢，蝗虫，蚂蚱 | |
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65
shuffle
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| n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走 | |
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66
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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67
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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68
unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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69
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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70
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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71
foists
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| 强迫接受，把…强加于( foist的第三人称单数 ) | |
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72
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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73
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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74
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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75
parasite
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| n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客 | |
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76
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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77
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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78
loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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79
parody
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| n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文 | |
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80
herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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81
mowing
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| n.割草，一次收割量，牧草地v.刈，割( mow的现在分词 ) | |
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82
inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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83
beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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84
persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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85
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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86
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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87
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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88
crested
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| adj.有顶饰的，有纹章的，有冠毛的v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的过去式和过去分词 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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89
peculiarity
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| n.独特性，特色；特殊的东西；怪癖 | |
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90
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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91
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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92
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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93
semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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94
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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95
spasm
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| n.痉挛，抽搐；一阵发作 | |
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96
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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97
ruse
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| n.诡计，计策；诡计 | |
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98
spurts
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| 短暂而突然的活动或努力( spurt的名词复数 )； 突然奋起 | |
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99
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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100
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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101
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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102
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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103
grouse
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| n.松鸡；v.牢骚，诉苦 | |
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104
speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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105
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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106
vertically
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| adv.垂直地 | |
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107
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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108
flickering
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| adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的 | |
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109
conspire
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| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
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110
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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denizen
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| n.居民，外籍居民 | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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discriminates
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| 分别，辨别，区分( discriminate的第三人称单数 )； 歧视，有差别地对待 | |
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naturalist
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| n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者) | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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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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tenacity
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| n.坚韧 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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distended
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| v.（使）膨胀，肿胀( distend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jaws
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| n.口部；嘴 | |
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petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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gape
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| v.张口，打呵欠，目瞪口呆地凝视 | |
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scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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remonstrated
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| v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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scrutinized
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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kernels
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| 谷粒( kernel的名词复数 )； 仁； 核； 要点 | |
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larder
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| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
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provident
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| adj.为将来做准备的，有先见之明的 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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vocal
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| adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目 | |
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sneaking
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| a.秘密的，不公开的 | |
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orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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pickpocket
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| n.扒手；v.扒窃 | |
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prospecting
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| n.探矿 | |
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hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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deriding
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| v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的现在分词 ) | |
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descry
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| v.远远看到；发现；责备 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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forefinger
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| n.食指 | |
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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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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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