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Old or Out of Print Bluebird Books & References (Part 1)From: "Pauline Tom" bluebirds"at"austin.rr.com Now that I have a copy of "Beakless Bluebirds and Featherless Penguins" I'll share with you a secret :-) I obtained this out-of-print jewel that was recommended on this list months ago through a special connection ... the Internet. I searched www.allbookstores.com and did not find the book so I used their electronic request form http://www.allbookstores.com/find-it.htm. After many months, I received email notification that a used bookstore had just made the book available. With a click, click, click ... up in cyberspace and down to me through UPS delivery ... all for my bluebird joy came the precious book. This option works for many out-of-print books as well as used books (more reasonable in price than new). Other electronic used bookstores have a similar service. Pauline Tom From: "jodyrose" jodyrose"at"bright.net I also have been searching for this book since it was mentioned
on the list earlier this year. I searched everywhere online
for it with no luck :-( From: "Pauline Tom" bluebirds"at"austin.rr.com www.bibliofind.com and www.alibris.com periodically have this out-of-print book available PTom From: "Bobby Wilson" bluebirdbob1"at"bresnan.net I just bought a used copy on Amazon.com and they had two copies. I tried to buy a new copy and they had a December shipping date. So I decided that I would just buy the used copy $6.95 and I also bought a copy of Birds of Forest, Yard, and Thicket $9.77 + shipping Bob Bob Wilson From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Here's another mention of bluebirds in an old book stamped (from a school? F.F. Tomlinson, Minerva, Ohio June 19,1937.) These books were old school books that found their way to antique stores when they had been deemed worn out. With modern day computers it would not be hard to compile each of these tiny bits of old data and create a searchable data base for us to use. We would have to research to see if copywrite laws were not violated BUT there is a tremendous amount of data gathering dust out there. This is truly a classic book and some of the "fairly common" birds they mention are the Passenger pigeon, California Vulture, Ivory Billed Woodpecker, Carolina Paroquet, Heath Hen and even the nest and egg of the Great Auk are described.... From the book: NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS BY CHESTER A. REED,
B.S. 766. Bluebird. Sialia sialis. Range.-Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf to southern Canada. Winters in the southern half of the United States. These familiar birds build in cavities in trees, usually below 20 feet from the ground, crevices among ledges, bird boxes and in any suitable nook they may discover about buildings, providing that English Sparrows do not molest them. They raise several broods a year, commencing in April when they lay from three to six pale bluish white eggs (rarely pure white); size .80 X .60. The cavities of their nesting sites are lined with grasses and feathers usually, although I have found the eggs on the unlined bottom of cavities in trees. 766a. Azure Bluebird. S.s. azurea. Range.-This pale variety is found in southern Arizona and southward. Its nesting habits are the same and the eggs are indistinguishable from the last. 767. Western Bluebird. Sialia mexicana occidentalis. Range-Pacific coast from lower California to British Columbia. The Western Bluebird is as common and familiar in its range as the common Bluebird is in the east. It nests in similar locations and its eggs are scarcely distinguishable, although averaging a trifle darker in shade; size .80 X .60. 767a. Chestnut-backed Bluebird. S.m. bairdi Range-Rocky Mountain region from Mexico to Wyoming. The nesting habits or eggs of this brighter colored bird do not differ from those of the last species. 767b. San Pedro Bluebird S. m. anabelae. Range-San Pedro Martir Mountains in lower California. The eggs of this variety will not in all probability be any different from those of the preceding Bluebirds. 768. Mountain Bluebird. Sialia arctica. Range-Rocky Mountain region, breeding from New Mexico north to Great Slave Lake; winters in southwestern United States and Mexico. This azure blue species is common in the greater part of its range and is found west to the Sierra Nevada's in California. Like the eastern Bluebird they nest in holes in trees or anywhere that they can find a suitable cavity or crevice. Their eggs are slightly larger that those of the other Bluebirds and have a slight greenish tint; size .85 X .64. 493. Starling. Sturnus vulgaris Range.-A European species which has casually been taken in Greenland. It was liberated a number of years ago in Central Park, New York City, and has now become abundant there and is spreading slowly in all directions. They build their nests in all sorts of locations such as are used by the English Sparrow, wherever they can find a sufficiently large crevice or opening; less often they build their nests in trees, making them of straw, twigs and trash. They lay from four to six pale bluish green eggs; size 1.15 X .85. Two broods are reared in a season. (after # 586 but noted as (* * * ) English Sparrow. Passer domesticus. These birds, which were imported from Europe, have increased so rapidly that they have overrun the cities and villages of the country and are doing inestimable damage both by driving out the native insect eating birds and by their own destructiveness. They nest in all sorts of places but preferably behind blinds, where their unsightly masses of straw protrude from between the slats, and their droppings besmirch the buildings below; they breed at all seasons of the year, eggs having often been found in Januarary, with several feet of snow on the ground and the mercury below zero. The eggs number from four to eight in a set and from four to eight sets a season; the eggs are whitish, spotted and blotched with shapes of gray and black. Size .88 X .60. OK! Anyone out there have Frank Chapman's COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS? It sounds like it would have bluebird information in it....Note that the above lists Eastern Bluebirds nesting in buildings in the 1800's. Gary Springer found them nesting in a brick building last year entering a hole for electrical conduit. I found them on a ledge at an egg production farm about 17' off the ground this last year. It might be time to search old book stores for magazine's and books mentioning bluebirds prior to about 1930 or when "modern day" bluebirding began.... When did these five subspecies get lumped into just three! Did they dwindle out? Were they ever really separate? Good stuff to work on during the off season ! KK Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 23:45:34 -0500 Keith and all old book fanatics -- Chester A. Reed authored three field guides to North American birds from about 1906 to 1913: Eastern Land Birds, Western Land Birds, and Water Birds. I wasn't aware of the Reed book that Keith discovered on Bird's Eggs. Your book, Keith, is very likely a school book. Reed's books were very popular in schools, and I can actually remember enjoying his Western Land Birds when I was a school kid in Oregon in the late 40s. Reed's books were the best books for bird identification until Peterson's came into print in 1934. Even afterward they were the best for a young kid to use. The books were small, about 3 x 5 and looked like a bound collection of flash cards -- one bird to a page. Each bird had a color illustration, unlike Peterson which was mostly black and white until around 1961, I believe. I have seen Frank Chapman's Color Guide to Birds but don't own a copy. I do have a copy of his "Birds of Eastern North America, published in 1895. It was the first book on birds meant to "identify birds with ease, certainty, and dispatch...in a volume which could be taken afield in the pocket," as Chapman writes in the Preface. It opened the gates for a flood of other bird identification books, many of them local. Chapman says about the eastern bluebird: "He seems so at home in our orchards and gardens or about our dwellings that one wonders what he did for a home before the white man came...The Bluebird's disposition is typical of all that is sweet and amiable. His song breathes of love; even his fall call-note -- tur-wee, tur-wee -- is soft and gentle...to me his song is freighted with all the gladness of springtime, while the sad notes of the birds passing southward tell me more plainly than the falling leaves that the year is dying." I believe the earliest mention of the bluebird is in Mark Catesby's "Natural History of the Carolinas, Florida and the Bahamas" published from 1731 to 1743. The account is brief and unremarkable: "The Blew Bird: This bird weighs nineteen penny-weight and is about the bigness of a sparrow. The eyes are large. The head and upper part of the body, tail and wings are a bright blue, except that the ends of the wing feathers are brown. The throat and breast, of a dirty red; the belly white. This is a bird of very swift flight, its wings being very long; so that the hawk generally pursues it is vain. They make their nests in holes of trees, are harmless birds, and resemble our robin red-breast. They feed on insects only. These birds are common in most parts of North America, I having seen them in Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and the Bermuda Islands." Anyone interested in collecting rare or out-of-print books on birds should contact Buteo Books http://www.buteobooks.com. --Jack Griggs From: "Robert E Rager" rerager"at"bright.net I have an old bird book "Bird Guide" land birds east of the Rockies by Chester A Reed Copy right 1906. 1909 and 1951 by Doubleday & Co Inc. The book is 3 1/4" by 5 1/2" it sold for $1.95. It has 300 full color illustrations 222 species. It was a gift from my sister years ago and has been my bird bible for many years. Robt Rager N/W Ohio From: "Phil Berry" mrtony8"at"home.com Jack Griggs wrote: Chester A. Reed authored three field guides to North American birds from about 1906 to 1913: Eastern Land Birds, Western Land Birds, and Water Birds. I wasn't aware of the Reed book that Keith discovered on Bird's Eggs. I have all of Reed's field guides. They are red leather bound pocket sized guides that are very sophisticated for the time. My 1909 issue, in it's original cardboard box, says "The Bird Guide, Land Birds East of the Rockies....from Parrots to Bluebirds" on the sleeve. Published by Doubleday & Co, New York. (imitation laether, $1.75). Bird #1 is the Carolina Parakeet, and the last is the "Bluebird, Sialia sialis." Obviously the EABL, the author also cites an "Azure Bluebird, Sialia azurea, found in the mountains of eastern Mexico and north casually to southern Arizona." Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on the list. Phil Berry From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com My two old books are: - Chester Reed, B.S.: "Bird Guide (Part 2) Land Birds East of the Rockies" (pocket size, much-used, and once re-bound) purchased by my mother in 1914. - Frank M. Chapman: "Birds of Eastern North America", 5"x7.5", purchased by my mother in 1928. (original hardcover binding) This is a shelf book, not a pocket guide. Both of these books describe the Bluebird as a common sight throughout its range, and both speak very affectionately of the species. The Reed book lists 10 other nature books by him, including "North American Birds' Eggs." Chapman lists 7 of his. One of my most useful modern books is: "Atlas of New Hampshire Breeding Birds," - thick, heavy, and very thoroughly researched, with two full pages devoted to each species found in the state. Bruce Burdett, in SW NH From: "Karen Louise Lippy" brdbrain"at"superpa.net I'm enjoying quotes from old books. I have a portion of a journal of Birds of Pennsylvania published around 1900. The date and author of the book are both missing. Here is the account of the bluebird: Description: Length about 6 1/2 ; extent about 12 1/2 inches; bill and legs blackish; iris brown. Adult Male in summer.--Upper parts uniform azure blue, sides of head, and fore part of chin, blue; throat, breast and sides reddish-brown; abdomen, and region and under tail coverts, white. Male in fall and winter.--Blue duller, feathers of the head, neck and back edged with rusty; white on abdomen more extended; the reddish-brown or chestnut on the throat and breast is darker. Adult Female.--Upper parts dull grayish-blue, brightest on the rump, tail and wings; lower parts similar to male but much duller. The young in first plumage, have wings and tail only blue; top of head and upper parts are grayish or brownish (usually the latter color), middle of back more or less streaked with white; lower parts are whitish (clearest on chin and abdomen); throat, breast and sides are thickly marked with irregular brownish or dusky spots. In this plumage the Bluebird appears very much like some of the thrushes from the spotted appearance of its breast. While most of the rest of the profile repeats much of what has already been stated, two accounts may be of interest. "October 23, 1884, Girard Manor, Schuylkill county, Penn'a (sp). Bluebirds very abundant; a flock of about two hundred have every day for the past two weeks been observed distributed over the field surrounding the residence of my friend and host M.M. MacMillan, Esq., busily engaged in feeding or dressing their plumage while they perch on the leafless branches of the numerous young trees, scattered along the fences. When feeding, the birds confine their operations to the ground and feed chiefly on grasshoppers, which are abundant. The fields about here appear to be favorite feeding resorts, as they come in large numbers in the morning, and remain, if not driven away, for about two hours. They also come in the afternoon, but not in such large numbers." "Since the pestiferous English Sparrows have become so numerous Bluebirds, in common with a number of other species of birds, which formerly were common and regular summer residents about yards, gardens and parks, have been drive away. About three years ago the writer found a pair of Bluebirds, that had been forced to leave a bird box by a flock of pugnacious sparrows, nesting in a hole in a sand bank. The hole in which this pair of birds nested had been used the previous year by a pair of Bank Swallows." The book also has a portion dedicated to eradicating the bounties put on predatory birds. It includes stomach contents of hundreds of hawks and owls proving that the foods they eat are not what was claimed by hunters. From: "Phil Berry" mrtony8"at"home.com thanks, Karen, for the quotes. bluebirds hav ehad it tough ever since we have interfered with their natural habitats. these old stories are great. neat way to start the winter season. Phil Berry Gulf Breeze, Florida From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas ... Thanks Jack and others for those quotes. These ought to be saved either on a hard copy or to a disk! We don't have to buy every book if we share what we find. I am sure some shops would even let you copy the few paragraphs on bluebirds contained in most books about birds. Gary Springer has a wonderful section on bluebirds contained in an old cyclopedia.....Gary are you going to share???? KK Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 11:47:28 -0500 If you haven't read JJ Audubon's accounts of bluebirds in his celebrated "Birds of America," you can access it on line at: http://employeeweb.myxa.com/rrb/Audubon/ That link will take you to the Table of Contents. Click on Volume II and you will get the index in which you can find Audubon's accounts of "blue-birds." The accounts are quite long. Below is one paragraph from the account of the "Common Blue-Bird." My excellent and learned friend Dr. RICHARD HARLAN of Philadelphia, told me that one day, while in the neighbourhood of that city, sitting in the piazza of a friend's house, he observed that a pair of Blue-birds had taken possession of a hole cut out expressly for them in the end of the cornice above him. They had young, and were very solicitous for their safety, insomuch that it was no uncommon thing to see the male especially, fly at a person who happened to pass by. A hen with her brood in the yard came within a few yards of the piazza. The wrath of the Blue-bird rose to such a pitch that, notwithstanding its great disparity of strength, it flew at the hen with violence, and continued to azzzil her, until she was at length actually forced to retreat and seek refuge under a distant shrub, when the little fellow returned exultingly to his nest, and there carolled his victory with great animation. --Jack Griggs Date: Fri, 23 Nov 2001 20:55:55 -0800 You all made me interested so got out a book that belonged to my father. It has a copyright of 1917 and 1936 and is titled Birds Of America. It is not by one person but by an advisory board. The eastern bluebird has an article written by George Gladden. It is quite long but one of the paragraphs was very interesting. He was talking about migration in the previous paragraph this one says: " A real tragedy of this kind occurred in the spring of 1895, when many species of migratory birds, but especially the Bluebirds, were caught in the wave of severely cold weather which swept through the Middle and Gulf States. Thousands of Bluebirds perished in the storms and bitter cold which lasted for a week or more; their frozen bodies where found everywhere-- in barns and other outhouses where the poor things had vainly sought shelter; in the fields and woods and even along the roadsides. In the localities affected they were almost exterminated. To many people it was a sad spring in those regions." He also quoted a part of a poem entitled Under the Willows by James Russell Lowell The Bluebird, shifting his light load of song' I enjoy reading the articles because the narration is pretty flowery and very interesting. Norma Zier From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant, Texas Here is one more example of bluebirds mentioned in an old book. "OUR COMMON BIRDS AND HOW TO KNOW THEM" by John B. Grant copywrite 1891 by Charles Scribner's and sons New York from the press of J.J. Little and Co. Astor Place New York It is a book mentioning about 90 of the most common birds that were seen on Long Island near Flushing and along the Hudson river area between New York City and Peekskill by this author in the mid 1800's. (Anyone know how far it is between New York City and Peekskill??) $1.40 is penciled in at some point and I picked it up for $5.00 years ago. The book is a little over 200 pages and is 5&1/2" X 7&1/2" with 64 B&W photos of male birds that were stuffed! Lovely cover and bluebirds are mentioned about 8 different times but the main text is as follows: Bluebird. Sialia sialis. Above azure-blue; throat and upper-breast cinnamon; belly dull white; eyes large; tail and wings broad, the former slightly notched; bill and legs black. Length, 7 inches. A migratory species; individuals, probably those with the northernmost range, being usually present with us through the Winter. Arrives early in March or even February, leaves late in November. Song a soft, pleasing warble in which a resemblance to the syllables tru-al-ly often repeated has been noticed. The bird utters this song when he is flying and when he is at rest. Nests in holes of trees or posts, or in boxes placed for his use in gardens. One of the earliest comers, the Bluebird is gladly welcomed as the harbinger of Spring, and his arrival is more widely remarked that that of most of the other birds. As the season advances and the tide of migration sets fully in. He loses his prominence, until, in Fall, many of the Summer visitors having departed, he again assumes importance; then, after greeting the Juncos and Snowflakes just come from the north, and bidding adieu to his intimate friends, the Chickadees, he joins the Kinglets and Warblers, now on their southern journey, and who tarry long enough for him to make his final preparations, and with them he seeks a sunnier clime. On some pleasant November morning, when we hear his sweet warble from an adjacent fence, though at the time we are unable to interpret the burden of his lay, he is, in his own "gentle, high bred manner," bidding us FAREWELL. That is how he ends the book!!!! OK I need Bruce Burdett to interpret "the burden of his lay!" Notice that in the 1800's he is using the same "tru-al-ly" to describe the song of the bluebird that we still use over 100 years later! He has guessed that the local birds move south and the "more Northern" bluebirds displace their locals in winter! Banding results tend to vary on this point but in the 1980's this was still accepted as gospel. Notice that he mentions "intimate friends the Chickadees" and migrating or possibly feeding in mixed flocks with the warblers and kinglets. Now days we report them associating with House Finches which were not found in New York in the 1800's and warblers and kinglets would have been more numerous. Nests in holes in trees (living or dead?) probably the more normal nesting sites before boxes became common as he states that Chimney swifts use hollow tree trunks and occasionally chimneys to nest in. Notice the mention of "boxes" in "gardens" placed for his use! We were using bluebirds for insect control 120 years ago! BUT I have a government manual from prior to 1920 telling how to use pesticides!!!! VERY limited instructions on the use of the pesticides but VERY comprehensive descriptions on how to detect if you were poisoning YOURSELF!!!! Also giving the antidote for all these "pesticides". Five most common pesticides, mildicides were Arsenic of lead, lead oxide (white lead or main pigment in paints later) nicotine from tobacco (yes we KNEW 130 years ago that tobacco was deadly) strychnine and arsenic.... Many of these build up in the soil and are picked up or absorbed by plants! Small wonder people rushed to start using DDT when it was introduced! One of the things that I found MOST interesting about this book of the "most" common birds is that there is NO mention of House Sparrows, Purple Martins or Tree Swallows. Many other cavity nesters are mentioned though. I hope everyone enjoys the weekend! Keith Kridler From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Keith, et al, A second dictionary meaning of the NOUN "lay" , labelled as 'archaic or poetical,' is "a song, or melody." The first NOUN meaning is "a short narrative poem for singing, especially by a medieval minstrel." The word has dozens of meanings as a VERB. For further reference, see Sir Walter Scott's poem "The Lay of the Last Minstrel." (There are many Web pages about this poem on Yahoo!, if you care to look them up.) So.......that old writer, speaking of the Bluebird, simply meant "the burden of his song." Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Keith, Wendy, et al, Many Americans, millions in fact, incorrectly use the word "lay" when they mean "lie." Examples: A lady said to me yesterday, "I found a dead Bluejay laying on my breezeway." (She wanted me to come over and bury it.) My knee-replacement surgeon always says to me in the examining room, "Lay down here on the table." (He's a very nice guy despite that, however, and he did a great job on my knees.) Bruce Burdett, SW NH From: Jennifer Hoffman jhoffman"at"maddog.sal.wisc.edu
Bruce wrote: So.......that old writer, speaking of the Bluebird, simply meant "the burden of his song." To take it a bit further: an older meaning of "burden" is "chorus, refrain," or (more relevant here) "central topic, theme." So "the burden of his lay" means "the theme of his song." Thanks to all for the interesting reading this week! Jennifer, S WI Pine Bluff Observatory
From: "TimSeward" ajax"at"patriot.net Keith and all, Peekskill lies on the Eastern side of the Hudson river, just south of Westpoint Military Academy. I would guess that Peekskill is about 55-60 miles north of Manhattan. Diane Seward From: "MJShearer" eshearer"at"mediaone.net Here's a little more on the origin of the phrase: snipped E. Cobham Brewer 1810-1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898. Burden of a Song. The words repeated in each verse, the chorus or refrain. It is the French bourdon, the big drone of a bagpipe, or double-diapason of an organ, used in fortė parts and choruses. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MJ From: "Bruce Burdett" blueburd"at"srnet.com Keith, Sandy, MJ, Tim, et al, In the Sixth (and last) Canto of Scott's "Lay of the Last Minstrel," one finds these lines: And far the echoing aisles prolong Dies Irę,
Dies Illa While the pealing organ rung Were it meet
with sacred strain Thus the holy fathers sung: etc. etc. etc. ............. The nouns "burden (burthen)" and "lay" appear often in the poem in their old meanings of "theme" and "song." Aren't you glad you started this thread, Keith? (Note: Don't y'all sit down to read this poem unless you've got an hour and a half or so. I haven't read it since high school.) Bruce Burdett, SW NH Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2001 23:22:12 -0500 From: Fred Leetch, Bowling Green in NW Ohio I have a copy of Forbush and May's "A Natural History of American Birds of Eastern and Central North America". It was written in the 1930s by John B. May as an abridgment and extension of Forbush's three volume set with a simialr title, written in the 1920s. There are ninety-six color plates by Louis Agassiz Fuertes, Allen Bown, and R.T.Peterson. The narrative pages are often written in a style that makes one think of the early 1900s - no doubt the work of Edward Howe Forbush (1858 - 1929). Here is an excerpt of the first paragraph of the Bluebird section. "Who does not welcome the beloved Bluebird and all that his coming implies? His cheery warble, heard at first as a mere wandering voice in the sky, heralds returning spring ........ Snow may still lie in patches or drift in flurries; but when the Bluebird comes we know that spring is near". I have enjoyed this book for over forty years. Amazon has a current listing for this title. J. Frederick Leetch
Phone: 419-352-4540 From: "Gary Springer" springer"at"alltel.net Encyclopedia Americana, 1849 Bluebird (sylvia sialis, Wils.; saxicola sialis, Bonaparte), This beautiful little bird is one of the earliest messengers of spring, and is occasionally seen as early as the month of February, in mild seasons. The middle of March is the ordinary time of mating, when the male bluebird is observed to be extremely devoted to the female, and shows the ardor of his attachment by every attention in his power, by the rapturous animation of his song, and the angry jealousy with which he repels the approaches of a rival. The nest of the former year is then repaired, and the female begins to lay her eggs, usually five, sometimes six, of a pale blue color, Two or three broods are raised in a season, the youngest of which are taken care of by the male, while the mother is still attending to the nest. The principal food of this species is insects, especially large beetles, and other hard wing or coleopterous bugs, to be found about dead or rotting trees:berries, persimmon, and the seeds of various plants, are also discovered in their stomachs. Large and numerous tape-worms infest their bowels, and they are also exceedingly annoyed by vermin externally. Wilson says that in this respect they are more plagued than any other bird, except the woodcock. The spring and summer song of the bluebird is a soft and often repeated warble: in the month of October, his song changes to a single plaintive note. About the middle of November, the bluebirds disappear, though, occasionally, one or two may be seen during the winter, in mild weather. The manners of this species are so gentle, and they render so much service by the destruction of insects, that they are always regarded with favor by the farmer. The male bluebird is six inches and three quarters long, with very full and broad wings. All the upper parts are of a rich sky-blue, with purple reflections: the bill and legs are black. The female is easily known by the duller cast of the plumage on the back, and by the red on the breast not descending so low as in the male, and being much fainter. The bluebird inhabits the whole of the U. States, also Mexico, brazil, Guiana and the Bahama islands. Wilson states that "nothing is more common, in Pennsylvania than to see large flocks of these birds, in the spring and fall, passing at considerable heights in the air, from the south in the former, and from the north in the latter season. I have seen, in the month of October, about an hour after sunrise, 10, or 15 of them descend from a great height, and settle on the top of a tall, detached tree, appearing, from their silence and sedateness, to be strangers and fatigued. After a pause of a few minutes, they began to dress and arrange their plumage, and continued so employ for 10 or 15 minutes more; then, on a few warning notes being given, perhaps by the leader of the party, the whole remounted to a vast height, steering in a direct line for the south-west." *Note that although this set of books was printed in 1849, this is a later edition and most of the writing took about a decade to accumulate. My understanding is that much of the writing dates to the early to mid 1830's. The author indicates the bluebird is found throughout the United States. At the time of the writing the western part of the continent was not part of the U.S.. Reading other parts of this series reveals there is little known of the western territories so it is likely the author may not have known of the western or mountain bluebirds. The scientific references are copied exactly as they appear in the text. From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com Keith Kridler Mt. Pleasant Texas Did some of you notice the following in Gary Springer's post
about the scientific spelling of the Eastern Bluebird? Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 12:24:37 -0600 Hey guys I have discovered one of the best old books that goes
into a lot of detail on House Sparrows. It is "Methods
of attracting birds" by Gilbert H. Trafton printed in Sept.1910
by Houghton Mifflin CO. It basically describes the "Huber
Trap" 60 years before Joe worked on it mentions string
on feeders to thwart sparrows, mentions hanging swinging nestboxes
to keep them from nesting, and mentions heights and seeds to
keep them from eating at feeders.....I am still reading it and
it was printed for Audubon members and has over 60 people from
all over the country contributing to the book very similar to
Jack Griggs bluebird book. This is something that should be
available on the used book stores and I thought this group might
have some who would want to find a copy before I post it to
the Bluebird-L.....This is the best old book I have found for
cavity nesters and bird feeding tips that were revolutionary
at the time. Stuff we can learn from now also!!!!It mention
a German installing 10,000 nestboxes and cutting into over 100
active woodpecker cavities in trees for measurements... KK Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 21:13:58 -0500 Hi Keith and all... I have briefly read the new book by Keith, and I found in it most of what I would want to see as a result of the "nhsk" group. Keith and his co-authors have produced a first class book. I like it very much... Also, I found the book by Trafton which Keith mentions. I got it for $9 including shipping. Some places for "rare and used books" are selling it for $36 plus shipping and handling... I love to see such an old book, thank you Keith for telling us about it! Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland Date: Wed, 09 Jan 2002 21:17:32 -0800 Fawzi, where'd you find Trafton's book for $9 including shipping? Our searches are coming up anywhere from $20 to $350 not including shipping. Linda V. "Fawzi P. Emad" wrote: Also, I found the book by Trafton which Keith mentions. I got it for $9 including shipping. Some places for "rare and used books" are selling it for $36 plus shipping and handling... Date: Wed, 9 Jan 2002 23:20:22 -0600 $9 for the book would be a bargain! Most of the "passive" methods of repelling the sparrows seem to be temporary. I feel the book is a good value at about $20 after that we need to just share around a few copies! .... KK Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 09:41:44 -0500 These was a one copy place, and I found only one such place! The rest cost around $20 plus S&H like Keith said. I hope the place I found is credible... I would hate to wait and then get nothing! It is a place unknown to me previously, and it was through Amazon.com that I found it. Fawzi Fawzi Emad in Laytonsville, Maryland From: "Gary Springer" springer"at"alltel.net When Nature made the bluebird she wished to propitiate both the sky and the earth, so she gave him the color of the one on his back and the hue of the other on his breast, and ordained that his appearance in spring should denote that the strife and war between these two elements was at an end. He is the peace-harbinger; in him the celestial and terrestrial strike hands and are fast friends. He means the furrow and he means the warmth; he means all the soft, wooing influences of the spring on the one hand, and the retreating footsteps of winter on the other. It is sure to be a bright March morning when you first hear his note and it is as if the milder influences up above had found a voice and let a word fall upon your ear, so tender is it and so prophetic, a hope tinged with a regret. "Bermuda! Bermuda! Bermuda! " he seems to say, as if both invoking and lamenting, and, behold! Bermuda follows close, though the little pilgrim may be only repeating the tradition of his race, himself having come only from Florida, the Carolinas, or even from Virginia, where he has found his Bermuda on some broad sunny hillside thickly studded with cedars and persimmon trees. In New York and in New England the sap starts up in the sugar maple the very day the bluebird arrives, and sugar making begins forthwith. The bird is generally a mere disembodied voice; a rumor in the air for two or three days before it takes visible shape before you. The males are the pioneers, and come several days in advance of the females. By the time both are here and the pair have begun to prospect for a place to nest, sugar making is over, the last vestige of snow has disappeared, and the plow is brightening its mould-board in the new furrow. The bluebird enjoys the preeminence of being the first bit of color that cheers our northern landscape. The other birds that arrive about the same time-the sparrow, the robin, the phoebe-bird-are clad in neutral tints, gray brown, or russet; but the bluebird brings one of the primary hues and the divinest of them all. This bird also has the distinction of answering very nearly to the robin redbreast of English memory, and was by the early settlers of New England christened the blue robin. It is a size or two larger, and the ruddy hue of its breast does not verge so nearly on an orange, but the manners and habits of the two birds are very much alike. Our bird has the softer voice, but the English redbreast is much the more skilled musician. He has indeed a fine, animated warble, heard nearly the year through about English gardens and along the old hedge-rows, that is quite beyond the compass of our bird's instrument. On the other hand, our bird is associated with the spring as the British species cannot be, being a winter resident also, while the brighter sun and sky of the New World have given him a coat that far surpasses that of his transatlantic cousin. It is worthy of remark that among British birds there is no blue bird. The cerulean tint seems much rarer among the feathered tribes there than here. On this continent there are at least three species of the common bluebird, while in all our woods there is the blue jay and the indigo-bird,-the latter so intensely blue as to fully justify its name. There is also the blue grosbeak, not much behind the indigo-bird in intensity of color and among our warblers the blue tint is very common. It is interesting to know that the bluebird is not confined to any one section of the country and that when one goes West he will still have this favorite with him, though a little changed in voice and color, just enough to give variety without marring the identity. The Western bluebird is considered a distinct species, and is perhaps a little more brilliant and showy than its Eastern brother and Nuttall thinks its song is more varied, sweet, and tender. Its color approaches to ultramarine, while it has a sash of chestnut-red across its shoulders, -all the effects, I suspect, of that wonderful air and sky of California, and of those great Western plains or, if one goes a littlie higher up into the mountainous regions of the West, he finds the Arctic bluebird, the ruddy brown on the breast changed to greenish blue, and the wings longer and more pointed in other respects not differing much from our species. The bluebird usually builds its nest in a hole in a stump or stub, or in an old cavity excavated by a woodpecker, when such can be had but its first impulse seems to be to start in the world in much more style, and the happy pair make a great show of house-hunting about the farm buildings, now half persuaded to appropriate a dove-cote, then discussing in a lively manner a last year's swallow's nest, or proclaiming with much flourish and flutter that they have taken the wren's house, or the tenement of the purple martin till finally nature becomes too urgent, when all this pretty make-believe ceases, and most of them settle back upon the old family stumps and knotholes in remote fields, and go to work in earnest. In such situations the female is easily captured by approaching very stealthily and covering the entrance to the nest. The bird seldom makes any effort to escape, seeing how hopeless the case is, and keeps her place on the nest till she feels your hand closing around her. I have looked down into the cavity and seen the poor thing palpitating with fear and looking up with distended eyes, but never moving till I had withdrawn a few paces; then she rushes out with a cry that brings the male on the scene in a hurry. He warbles and lifts his wings beseechingly, but shows no anger or disposition to scold and complain like most birds. Indeed, this bird seems incapable of uttering a harsh note, or of doing a spiteful, ill-tempered thing. The ground-builders all have some art or device to decoy one away from the nest, affecting lameness, a crippled wing, or a broken back, promising an easy capture if pursued. The tree-builders depend upon concealing the nest or placing it beyond reach. But the bluebird has no art either way, and its nest is easily found. About the only enemies the sitting bird or the nest is in danger of are snakes and squirrels. I knew of a farm-boy who was in the habit of putting his hand down into a bluebird's nest and taking out the old bird whenever he came that way. One day he put his hand in, and, feeling something peculiar, withdrew it hastily, when it was instantly followed by the head and neck of an enormous black snake. The boy took to his heels and the snake gave chase, pressing him close till a plowman near by came to the rescue with his ox-whip. There never was a happier or more devoted husband than the male bluebird is. But among nearly all our familiar birds the serious cares of life seem to devolve almost entirely upon the female. The male is hilarious and demonstrative, the female serious and anxious about her charge. The male is the attendant of the female, following her wherever she goes. He never leads, never directs, but only seconds and applauds. If his life is all poetry and romance, hers is all business and prose. She has no pleasure but her duty, and no duty but to look after her nest and brood. She shows no affection for the male, no pleasure in his society; she only tolerates him as a necessary evil, and, if he is killed, goes in quest of another in the most business-like manner, as you would go for the plumber or the glazier. In most cases the male is the ornamental partner in the firm, and contributes little of the working capital. There seems to be more equality of the sexes among the woodpeckers, wrens, and swallows; while the contrast is greatest, perhaps, in the bobolink family, where the courting is done in the Arab fashion, the female fleeing with all her speed and the male pursuing with equal precipitation; and were it not for the broods of young birds that appear, it would be hard to believe that the intercourse ever ripened into anything more intimate. With the bluebirds the male is useful as well as ornamental. He is the gay champion and escort of the female at all times, and while she is sitting he feeds her regularly. It is very pretty to watch them building their nest. The male is very active in hunting out a place and exploring the boxes and cavities, but seems to have no choice in the matter and is anxious only to please and encourage his mate, who has the practical turn and knows what will do and what will not. After she has suited herself he applauds her immensely, and away the two go in quest of material for the nest, the male acting as guard and flying above and in advance of the female. She brings all the material and does all the work of building, he looking on and encouraging her with gesture and song. He acts also as inspector of her work, but I fear is a very partial one. She enters the nest with her bit of dry grass or straw, and , having adjusted it to her notion, withdraws and waits near by while he goes in and looks it over. On coming out he exclaims very plainly, "Excellent! !" and away the two go again for more material. The bluebirds, when they build about the farm buildings, sometimes come in conflict with the swallows. The past season I knew a pair to take forcible possession of the domicile of a pair of the latter,-the cliff species that now stick their nests under the eaves of the barn. The bluebirds had been broken up in a little bird-house near by, by the rats or perhaps a weasel, and being no doubt in a bad humor, and the season being well advanced, they made forcible entrance into the adobe tenement of their neighbors, and held possession of it for some days, but I believe finally withdrew, rather than live amid such a squeaky, noisy colony. I have heard that these swallows, when ejected from their homes in that way by the phoebe-bird, have been known to fall to and mason up the entrance to the nest while their enemy was inside of it, thus having a revenge as complete and cruel as anything in human annals. The bluebird and the house wrens more frequently come into collision. A few years ago I put up a little bird-house in the back end of my garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair have taken up their abode there. One spring a pair of bluebirds looked into the tenement and lingered about several days, leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they finally went away, and later in the season the wrens appeared, and, after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old quarters and were as happy as only wrens can be. One of our younger poets, Myron Benton, saw a little bird "Ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies,"which must have been the wren, as I know of no other bird that so throbs and palpitates with music as this little vagabond. And the pair I speak of seemed exceptionably happy, and the male had a small tornado of song in his crop that kept him "ruffled" every moment in the day. But before their honeymoon was over the bluebirds returned. I knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens scolding and crying at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the bluebirds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair; they wrung their hands and tore their hair, after the wren fashion, but chiefly did they rattle out their disgust and wrath at the intruders. I have no doubt that, if it could have been interpreted, it would have proven the rankest and most voluble Billingsgate ever uttered. For the wren is saucy, and he has a tongue in his head that can outwag any other tongue known to me. The bluebirds said nothing, but the male kept an eye on Mr. Wren; and, when he came too near, gave chase, driving him to cover under the fence, or under a rubbish-heap or other object, where the wren would scold and rattle away, while his pursuer sat on the fence or the pea-brush waiting for him to reappear. Days passed, and the usurpers prospered and the outcasts were
wretched; but the latter lingered about watching and abusing
their enemies, and hoping, no doubt, that things would take
a turn, as they presently did. The outraged wrens were fully
avenged. The mother bluebird had laid her full complement of
eggs and was beginning to set, when one day, as her mate was
perched above her on the barn, along came a boy with one of
those wicked elastic slings and cut him down with a pebble. There he lay like a bit
of sky fallen upon the grass. The widowed bird seemed to understand
what had happened, and without much ado disappeared next day
in quest of another mate. How she contrived to make her wants
known, without trumpeting them about, I am unable to say. But
I presume the birds have a way of advertising that answers the
purpose well. Maybe she trusted to luck to fall in with some
stray bachelor or bereaved male who would undertake to The males being more exposed by their song and plumage, and by being the pioneers in migrating, seem to be slightly in excess lest the supply fall short, and hence it sometimes happens that a few are bachelors perforce; there are not females enough to go around, but before the season is over there are sure to be some vacancies in the marital ranks, which they are called on to fill. In the mean time the wrens were beside themselves with delight; they fairly screamed with joy. If the male was before "ruffled with whirlwind of his ecstasies," he was now in danger of being rent asunder. He inflated his throat and caroled as wren never caroled before. And the female, too, how she cackled and darted about! How busy they both were! Rushing into the nest, they hustled those eggs out in less than a minute, wren time. They carried in new material, and by the third day were fairly installed again in their old quarters; but on the third day, so rapidly are these little dramas played, the female bluebird reappeared with another mate. Ah! how the wren stock went down then! What dismay and despair filled again those little breasts! It was pitiful. They did not scold as before, but after a day or two withdrew from the garden, dumb with grief, and gave up the struggle. The bluebird, finding her eggs gone and her nest changed, seemed suddenly seized with alarm and shunned the box; or else, finding she had less need for another husband than she thought, repented her rashness and wanted to dissolve the compact. But the happy bridegroom would not take the hint, and exerted all his eloquence to comfort and reassure her. He was fresh and fond, and until his bereaved female found him I am sure his suit had not prospered that season. He thought the box just the thing, and that there was no need of alarm, and spent days in trying to persuade the female back. Seeing he could not be a stepfather to family, he was quite willing to assume a nearer relation. He hovered about the box, he went in and out, he called, he warbled, he entreated; the female would respond occasionally and come and alight near, and even peep into the nest, but would not enter it, and quickly flew away again. Her mate would reluctantly follow, but he was soon back, uttering the most confident and cheering calls. If she did not come he would perch above the nest and sound his loudest notes over and over again, looking in the direction of his mate and beckoning with every motion. But she responded less and less frequently. Some days I would see him only, but finally he gave it up; the pair disappeared, and the box remained deserted the rest of the summer. John Burroughs, 1867 Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 22:34:53 -0800 Linda Violett - Yorba Linda, Calif. Thanks, Gary, for posting that pazzzge by John Burroughs (1867). The portion about the boy with the sling shot had relevance on my trail today. On my western bluebird suburban trail, an eye must be kept out for changes in the surrounding neighborhoods where hanging boxes are placed. As parks get rougher with the quickly changing mix of our So. Calif. neighborhoods, it always shows up in the amount and type of trash found around the nestboxes. Whenever beer bottles and broken glass become routine around nestboxes, I start knocking on doors of nearby private homes to find safer havens. Last month, two homes with workable trees near a nestbox in a declining area were found. The box in the public greenbelt was changed to the less desirable skylight box and I hung a new nestbox in each of the two private yards to give the bluebirds a choice. Lo and behold, today I was checking the boxes in the area and heard what sounded like BB-gun shots. The sounds seemed to be coming from the backyard area of one of the "safe" homes! I moved closer and could see the metal muzzle pointed up toward the trees and heard an adolescent boy making soft bird calls. The boy's mother (very nice) explained that the BB-gun was
a Christmas present and the boy posed no danger to birds because
he loved wildlife. Couldn't risk any possible losses because western bluebirds are still declining almost 1% each year. I loaned her a copy of the Bluebird Monitor's Guide and promised that a nestbox would, once again, be hung in her tree in about five years when her son has outgrown the BB-gun. From: "Keith & Sandy Kridler" kridler"at"1starnet.com ... Gary Springer included a wonderful long post of John Burroughs from 1867 about bluebirds this past week. John wrote an introductory Message for a book copy write date of 1897 titled; "Bird Neighbors, An introductory acquaintance with one hundred and fifty of our common birds" printed by Doubleday, Page and comp. in 1902 written by NeltJe Blanchan. John Burroughs writes in the very last paragraph of his two page introduction: A few seasons ago I feared the tribe of bluebirds were on the verge of extinction from the enormous number of them that perished from cold and hunger in the South in the winter of 1894. For two summers not a blue wing, not a blue warble. I seemed to miss something kindred and precious from my environment--the visible embodiment of the tender sky and wistful soil. What a loss, I said, to coming generations of dwellers in the country--no bluebird in spring! What will the farm-boy date from? But the fear was groundless: the birds are regaining their lost ground; broods of young blue-coats are again seen drifting from stake to stake or from mullen-stalk to mullen-stalk about the fields in summer, and our April air will doubtless again be warmed and thrilled by this lovely harbinger of spring. John Burroughs August 17, 1897. This post brings us to the most important basis for bluebirding! While all of these old book accounts mention how bad the House Sparrow is it only takes one severe winter to "exterminate" the eastern bluebird in the northeastern US. John K. Terres again mentions the severe losses of bluebirds to cold winters in his book again in the 1950'searly 60's. It might be mentioned that in 1897 was a series of the most severe weather ever recorded in the western US as it wiped out the cattle on the vast government lands from Montana to Texas. Yes, sparrows may be "bad" but it is going to be starvation of bluebirds in winter that overall will probably limit our success in keeping this bird "common" for generations to come. KK Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 10:04:34 -0800 (PST) I came across a very enjoyable link (below) to old bird magazine articles between 1897-1907. When you click on the link then click on.. April 1898. When you get to the page click on the last article titled "Let us all protect the eggs of the birds." The first paragraph on the right hand side talks about a single pair of Bluebirds producing many young. http://www.birdnature.com/birdsandnature.html Enjoy! Evelyn Old or Out of Print Bluebird Books & References (Part 2) |
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