Bird Neighbors | Page 6

instead of black
and white.) Stocky, high-shouldered build; bill strong and long for drilling holes in bark
of trees. Tail feathers pointed and stiffened to serve as a prop. Two toes before and two
behind for clinging. Usually seen clinging erect on tree-trunks; rarely, if ever, head
downward, like the nuthatches, titmice, etc. Woodpeckers feed as they creep around the
trunks and branches. Habits rather phlegmatic. The flicker has better developed vocal
powers than other birds of this class, whose rolling tattoo, beaten with their bills against
the tree-trunks, must answer for their love-song. Nest in hollowed-out trees. Red-headed
Woodpecker. Hairy Woodpecker. Downy Woodpecker. Yellow-bellied Woodpecker.
Flicker.
Order Macrochires: GOATSUCKERS, SWIFTS, AND HUMMING-BIRDS
Family Caprimulgidae: NIGHTHAWKS, WHIPPOORWILLS, ETC.
Medium-sized, mottled brownish, gray, black, and white birds of heavy build. Short,
thick head; gaping, large mouth; very small bill, with bristles at base. Take insect food on
the wing. Feet small and weak; wings long and powerful. These birds rest lengthwise on
their perch while sleeping through the brightest daylight hours, or on the ground, where
they nest. Nighthawk. Whippoorwill.
Family Micropolidae: SWIFTS
Sooty, dusky birds seen on the wing, never resting except in chimneys of houses, or
hollow trees, where they nest. Tips of tail feathers with sharp spines, used as props. They

show their kinship with the goatsuckers in their nocturnal as well as diurnal habits, their
small bills and large mouths for catching insects on the wing, and their weak feet.
Gregarious, especially at the nesting season. Chimney Swift.
Family Trochilidae: HUMMING-BIRDS
Very small birds with green plumage (iridescent red or orange breast in males); long,
needle-shaped bill for extracting insects and nectar from deep-cupped flowers, and
exceedingly rapid, darting flight. Small feet. Ruby-throated Humming-bird.
Order Passeres: PERCHING BIRDS
Family Tyrannidae: FLYCATCHERS
Small and medium-sized dull, dark-olive, or gray birds, with big heads that are
sometimes crested. Bills hooked at end, and with bristles at base. Harsh or plaintive
voices. Wings longer than tail; both wings and tails usually drooped and vibrating when
the birds are perching. Habits moody and silent when perching on a conspicuous limb,
telegraph wire, dead tree, or fence rail and waiting for insects to fly within range. Sudden,
nervous, spasmodic sallies in midair to seize insects on the wing. Usually they return to
their identical perch or lookout. Pugnacious and fearless. Excellent nest builders and
devoted mates. Kingbird. Phoebe. Wood Pewee. Acadian Flycatcher. Great Crested
Flycatcher. Least Flycatcher. Olive-sided Flycatcher. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Say's
Flycatcher.
Family Alaudidae: LARKS
The only true larks to be found in this country are the two species given below. They are
the kin of the European skylark, of which several unsuccessful attempts to introduce the
bird have been made in this country. These two larks must not be confused with the
meadow larks and titlarks, which belong to the blackbird and pipit families respectively.
The horned larks are birds of the ground, and are seen in the United States only in the
autumn and winter. In the nesting season at the North their voices are most musical.
Plumage grayish and brown, in color harmony with their habitats. Usually found in flocks;
the first species on or near the shore. Horned Lark. Prairie Horned Lark.
Family Corvidae: CROWS AND JAYS
The crows are large black birds, walkers, with stout feet adapted for the purpose. Fond of
shifting their residence at different seasons rather than strictly migratory, for, except at
the northern limit of range, they remain resident all the year. Gregarious. Sexes alike.
Omnivorous feeders, being partly carnivorous, as are also the jays. Both crows and jays
inhabit wooded country. Their voices are harsh and clamorous; and their habits are
boisterous and bold, particularly the jays. Devoted mates; unpleasant neighbors. Common
Crow. Fish Crow. Northern Raven. Blue Jay. Canada Jay.
Family Icteridae: BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC.
Plumage black or a brilliant color combined with black. (The meadow lark a sole
exception.) Sexes unlike. These birds form a connecting link between the crows and the
finches. The blackbirds have strong feet for use upon the ground, where they generally
feed, while the orioles are birds of the trees. They are both seed and insect eaters. The
bills of the bobolink and cowbird are short and conical, for they are conspicuous seed
eaters. Bills of the others long and conical, adapted for insectivorous diet. About half the
family are gifted songsters. Red-winged Blackbird. Rusty Blackbird. Purple Grackle.
Bronzed Grackle. Cowbird. Meadow Lark. Western Meadow Lark. Bobolink. Orchard
Oriole. Baltimore Oriole.

Family Fringillidae: FINCHES, SPARROWS, GROSBEAKS, BUNTINGS, LINNETS,
AND CROSSBILLS
Generally fine songsters. Bills conical, short, and stout for cracking seeds. Length from
five to nine inches, usually under eight inches. This, the largest family of birds that we
have (about one-seventh of all our birds belong to it), comprises birds of such varied
plumage and