Identifier: cu31924000070809 (find matches)
Title: Bird studies for home and school; sixty common birds, their habits and haunts
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: De Groat, Herman C
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: Buffalo, N. Y., Herman C. De Groat
Contributing Library: Cornell University Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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rly dawn they areon the wing pouring out of their sooty homes in streams. Theday is spent in flying about and in gathering food which con-sists entirely of moths and other winged insects. Their flightis wonderfully swift and prolonged. As darkness approaches they return in flocks, circling highabove the chimney top and all moving in the same direction,but constantly nearing the opening. Evfery few minutes thosein the lead drop out of sight and in a short time the whole com-pany has settled to rest for the night. A glance at the interiorof the chimney shows the birds clinging to the sides and bracedwith their spiny tails like Woodpeckers. The name Swallow has been given to these birds becausethey feed while flying like the Swallows; but they are trueSwifts not Swallows. They have no song and only utter asharp tsip, tsip, tsip rapidly repeated. They are said to fly athousand miles in twenty-four hours, hence the length of theirmigratory journey is of little consequence to them. They 104
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93 LHI.MNKV SVVIKT.^3 Life-size. MFORD CHIC*0O winter as far south as Central America, coming north in Apriland returning in October. BIRD NOTES 105 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER ( See Frontispiece ) Head, neck and throat all crimson; back and part of wingsblack; remainder of wings, rump, breast and belly white; tailblack tipped with white; bill and feet dark. Male and femalealike. Length, ten inches. The nest is generally in a dead tree. Eggs, four to six innumber, glossy white, 1.00 x .75 inches. This Woodpecker isfound in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Hewinters from Virginia southward, though a few remain northduring the whole year. He feeds on insects and worms, and those whichhe likes best live in trees. Sometimes these are in thebark, and sometimes in the wood of the trees to which they dogreat injury. This bird seems to know just what trees con-tain the insects he wants, for he does not touch other trees. Hepecks a hole in a tree with his sharp bill just over the foodw

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