Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 1 [June 1902]

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Various. Birds and Nature, Vol. 12 No. 1 [June 1902]

JUNE

WAY OF JUNE

THE SWALLOW-TAILED KITE (Elanoides forficatus.)

TO THE BIRDS

OLD-FASHIONED OUTINGS. PART I

THE ALICE’S THRUSH (Turdus aliciae.)

A BIT OF FICTION FROM BIRDLAND

THE CAROLINA CHICKADEE (Parus carolinensis.)

DICK (THE STORY OF A DOG.)

THE VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW (Tachycineta thalassina.)

A PRETTY HOUSE-FINCH

THE THRUSH’S SOLO

SPRINGS, GEYSERS AND ARTESIAN WELLS

WHERE WE FOUND THE LADY-BIRDS (A TRUE INCIDENT.)

CHERRY AND I

STARFISHES

THE FIRE-WEED OR GREAT WILLOW-HERB (Chamaenerion angustifolium.)

THE SEA OR MARSH PINK (Sabbatia stellaris.)

THE WORLD

THE WATER OUSEL

TOBACCO (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

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The late Dr. Cones enthusiastically writes of the beauty of the Swallow-tailed Kite in the following words:

“Marked among its kind by no ordinary beauty of form and brilliancy of color, the Kite courses through the air with a grace and buoyancy it would be vain to rival. By a stroke of the thin-bladed wings and a lashing of the cleft tail, its flight is swayed to this or that side in a moment, or instantly arrested. Now it swoops with incredible swiftness, seizes without a pause, and bears its struggling captive aloft, feeding from its talons as it flies. Now it mounts in airy circles till it is a speck in the blue ether and disappears. All its actions, in wantonness or in severity of the chase, display the dash of the athletic bird, which, if lacking the brute strength and brutal ferocity of some, becomes their peer in prowess – like the trained gymnast, whose tight-strung thews, supple joints, and swelling muscles, under marvelous control, enable him to execute feats that to the more massive or not so well conditioned frame would be impossible. One cannot watch the flight of the Kite without comparing it with the thorough-bred racer.”

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An interesting habit of this Kite is its method of leaving its nest. It does not fly from the side, but seems to rise directly upward, “as if it were pushed up with a spring.” On alighting, it hovers over the nest and with an almost imperceptible motion of its wings gently lowers itself until the nest is reached.

The antics of the Swallow-tailed Kite during the mating season are particularly interesting. An observer of bird life says: “Of all aerial performances I have ever witnessed, the mating of the Swallow-tailed Kite excels. Ever charming and elegant, they outdo themselves at this season. In Becker County, Minnesota, in the spring of 1886, they chose as their mating ground an open space over the mouth of an ice-cold brook that made its way out from a dark, tangled larch swamp. From my boat on the lake I had an excellent view of them. All the afternoon seven of these matchless objects sported, chasing each other here and there, far and near, sailing along in easy curves, floating, falling and rising, then darting with meteor-like swiftness, commingling and separating with an abandon and airy ease that is difficult to imagine. The next day three pairs were selecting nesting sites.”

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