Country Life in America Volume 31 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1917 Excerpt: ... earth worms that resistingly are pulled from the lawn, or a few cherries that he purloins in raids on the garden during a brief period in June. But in winter Sir Robin must look elsewhere for the good things of life. Down in the swamps of North Carolina I found him and hundreds of his friends in great glee feeding on black gum berries. Many of the berries feet to the ground below, but in the wise economy of nature few objects of value are allowed to go to waste. From the sombre shadows emerged a gang of wild turkeys, that in summer are great bug-eaters, and the fallen berries were picked from among the carpet of dead leaves. The robins become so fat on black gum berries and cedar berries, that the inhabitants of the region have long esteemed them as a specially toothsome dish when served on toast or in the form of pot-pies. The birds that spend the winter in northern latitudes, are the ones that it would appear are in most danger of suffering from a lack of food supply. Whereto secure breakfast is the big question which confronts every bird when it opens its sleepy eyes on the first snowy morning of winter. Not only has the whole aspect of the country been transformed, but the old sources of food have passed away. Not a caterpillar is to be found on the dead leaves, and not a single winged insect is left to come flying by; hence another menu must be sought and other food looked for in new directions. Emboldened by hunger, the starlings alight at the kitchen door, and the juncos, sparrows, downy woodpeckers, and nuthatches come to feed on the window-sill. Jays and meadowlarks haunt the manure piles or haystacks in earnest search for fragments of grain. Purple finches flock to the wahoo elm trees to feed on the buds; crossbills likewise attack the pine cones...