AMERICAN
BIRDS
STUDIED AND PHOTOGRAPHED
FROM LIFE
BY
WILLIAM LOVELL FINLEY
ILLUSTRATED FROM
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
HERMAN T. BOHLMAN AND THE
AUTHOR
Young Golden Eagle,
not
quite fully fledged. White down
still showing on breast
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK
COPYRIGHT, 1907,
BY
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
Published, October, 1907
TROW DIRECTORY
PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING
COMPANY
NEW YORK
TO
MY MOTHER
PREFATORY NOTE
AN
important and sometimes difficult phase in the study of bird life is to
observe
accurately and report without false interpretation the habits and
actions of
birds. The naturalist who uses the camera in the field often has the
advantage
of backing his observations with proof (not an unimportant thing in
nature
writing of to-day), and if he produces good authentic photographs, one
may be
quite sure they were not secured without patient waiting and a careful
study of
his subjects.
In this
book no attempt has been made to include all the
different
bird families, but a series of representative birds from
the
hummingbird to the eagle has been selected. Each chapter represents a
close and
continued study with camera and
notebook at
the home of some bird or group of birds,—a true life history of each
species.
It is the bird as a live creature, its real wild personality and
character,
that I have tried to portray.
Many of
these
studies were made in the West, but in the list of birds treated an
effort has
been made to get a selection that is national in scope. In the popular
mind a
song sparrow is a song sparrow from ocean to ocean, yet scientifically
he
represents over a dozen subspecies, according to the part of the
country in
which he lives. To the ordinary bird lover, however, a robin is the
same east
and west, and the same is true of the chickadee, flicker, wren,
grosbeak,
vireo, warbler, hawk, and others dealt with in the following chapters.
In
making this book, I have used many suggestions offered by my wife, and
I have
had her valued assistance and criticism.
In
studying bird
life, I have been closely associated with Mr. Herman T. Bohlman since
boyhood.
He has been my constant companion and helper in the field every summer
for the
past ten years. I owe much to him, for this book embraces the chapters
in his
experience as well as in mine.
WILLIAM L.
FINLEY.
PORTLAND,
OREGON,
August, 1907.
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Young Golden Eagle, not
quite fully fledged. White down
still showing on breast
The Hummer saddled her
cup on the lowest branch of a small
fir
Mother Hummingbird on
edge of nest about to brood young
The nestlings began to
fork out all over with tiny black
horns
The Hummer feeding her
young by regurgitation.
She jabs her
long bill down the baby's throat and injects him
Rufous at home
Young Hummer on the
clothes-line in the back yard
Young Hummers about to
leave nest
Hummingbird poised in
mid-air, taking food from the geranium
cups
Mother Chickadee at back
door of her nest
Chickadee at the
threshold of her home
Mother Chickadee at back
door of her nest
"Here we are! We are
seven!"
Chickadees in a family jar
Photographing the
Flickers' nest
They liked to cling to
our clothing
Nest and eggs of Flicker,
with side of stump sawed out
"About face!"
A family of young Flickers
Flicker at the front door
of her home
Male Yellow-throat
The mother came with a
big spider
Nest and eggs of
Yellow-throat
The mother dropped to the
perch, and gave the nearer
one
Young Yellow-throats
quarreling
Mother Grosbeak feeding
young
Male Grosbeak feeding
young
Nest of eggs of
Black-headed Grosbeak
Male Grosbeak at nest
Grosbeak babies
A full-grown young
Red-tail. The tail end of a carp showing in
nest
Taking pictures at the
aerie of the Red-tail, 120 feet
from the ground
At the foot of the Hawk's
tree
Aerie of the Red-tail in
the tall cottonwood
Nest and eggs of the
Red-tail, April 15th
Young Red-tails in the
downy stage, May 3d
Full-grown young
Red-tails just before they left the aerie,
May 24th. Piece of carp showing in nest
Young Crows just after
hatching
Nest full of young Crows,
about half-grown
Jack Crow's perch in the
apple tree
"Granny"—a portrait of a
half-grown Barn Owl
Full-grown young Barn
Owls at the age of eight weeks
Nest and eggs of the Barn
Owl
Downy young Barn Owls
about three weeks old
A study in sentiment
Barn Owl in full flight
Half-grown Barn Owls,
about six weeks old
Young Barn Owl in
fighting attitude
Wide awake and on the
tip-toe of expectancy
Mother Wren at the nest
hole
A young Vigors Wren just
after leaving nest in the dead
alder
Feeding young Wrens
The
parents lit wherever
they found the children
Bush-tit feeding young on
top of cap
Awaiting their
turns—rather impatiently
Bush-tit at door of long
hanging nest
Young Bush-tits beside
long pendent nest
Male Bush-tit with green
cutworm for young
Jimmy
Jimmy eating from the
hand of his mistress
Pair of young Shrikes or
Butcher-birds
He often perched in the
pear tree
Nest and eggs of
Black-throated Gray Warbler
Two small nestlings
Disputing while mother is
away
The mother often brought
in green cutworms
The gray mother rewarded
him with a mouthful
She did not forget the
hungry, more timid fledgling in
the nest
Taking a portrait of a
young Kingfisher
The Kingfisher with a
broken bill
The first day out of the
nest fully fledged
Six of the frowsy-headed
Fishers in a pose
The door to the
Kingfisher's home showing small hole to the
left where nest was first started;
the two little
tracks at the bottom
made by
the feet of the bird
They perched on the
projecting snags over the water
Song Sparrows about to
break home ties
An English Sparrow,
actually making a home in a hornet's
nest
Nest and eggs of the Song
Sparrow
Song Sparrow on a fence
One of our most constant
singers
The White-crowned Sparrow
father with food for young
Female White-crowned
Sparrow
A pair of White-crowned
Sparrows
Female White-crowned
Sparrow with food for young
The Bluebird mother at
the nest hole
Young Blue Jay in nest
The Bluebird mother at
the nest hole
Young Blue Jay just
leaving nest
The young Bluebird was
just in the act of jumping for the
worm the mother held.
A Mother Bluebird poising
an instant after feeding her
young
The male Bluebird with
food for young
Mother Oriole feeding
young
Basket nest of the
Oriole. A door has been cut in the wall of the nest to
show the eggs.
Young Cassin Vireos on
branch over basket nest
Cassin Vireo beside nest
Warbling Vireo feeding
young
Warbling Vireo at nest
after feeding
Phoebe and young on the
wire of the fence
Young black Phoebes in
nest
Two young black Phoebes
just after leaving nest
Mother Phoebe feeding
young
The Thrush's nest among
the ferns
The Thrush on her nest
The Thrush mother at the
nest edge
Young Thrush on a wild
raspberry
Young Robins at home
A Robin in the cherry tree
Nest and eggs of the Gull
The perfect poise of the
Gull
Young Sea Gulls in the
nest
A Gull at home on the
rocks
A pair of Gulls on the
wharf
Gull just catching a bite
that is thrown to it
Tame Gulls about the beach
Gulls perched on the
anchor chain awaiting dinner
Great Blue Herons coming
home from the marshes
Family of young Great
Blue Herons in tree-top nest
Young Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron in top
of sycamore beside nest
Full-grown young Night
Heron
Using a reflex camera in
the tree-tops among the Herons
Black-crowned Night Heron
on nest
Young Night Heron
clinging to limb
Working at the aerie of
the Golden Eagle
Nest and
eggs of the Golden Eagle
The nestlings
about three-fourths grown.
The nest is five
feet across
Photographing the Golden
Eagle's nest
Downy white Eagles at the
age of twenty-five days
Mottled young Eagles at
the age of forty days
Pair of young Golden
Eagles at the age of sixty-two days
The royal twins at the
age of fifty-five days
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