Table of Contents
Chester a. Reed, B. S
Author of "Land Birds," "Water Birds," "Flower Guide," "Nature Studies," North American Birds' Eggs," etc.
Chas. K. Reed
Copyrighted 1911 Chas. K. Reed, Worcester, Mass.
Air Scouts
2 pages
Blue Skies and Blue Birds
Bluebird (10 illustrations) Blue Jay (7 illustrations) Hummingbird (4 illustrations) Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1 illustration) 65 69 75 75 82…
Favorite Songsters
3 pages
Only Sparrows
"Oh, I only saw a Robin, a Bluebird and a lot of sparrows!" I have heard similar expressions many a time. It is amazing to find what a very…
The Gleaners
2 pages
Feathered Tyrants
2 pages
How Bird Photographs Are Made
Very few persons as they look at pictures in magazines or in books ever give an instant's thought as to the time, the patience or perhaps…
The Chickadee
2 pages
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Here is an acrobat worthy of notice. Apparently in defiance of all laws of gravity, he nimbly runs down tree trunks head-foremost, with…
Chimney Swift
One of the most useful of these scouts is a "city dweller." Chimney Swifts at one time nested only in hollow trees and in caves or crevices…
Nighthawks and Whip-Poor-Wills
2 pages
Bird Masons
2 pages
Barn Swallow
Just as the Phoebe is the "Bridge-bird," so this is a bird of the barn. Before the advent of civilized man, they dwelt in caves or in…
Cliff Swallow
While the Barn Swallows usually have their homes within barns, Cliff Swallows almost as frequently fasten theirs to the outsides of such…
Chebec or Least Flycatcher
The pair of Least Flycatchers, with which this chapter deals, built their nest, as may be very plainly seen in the photographs, in an apple…
A Family of Redstarts
The morning of one June day found me threading my way along a narrow footpath that wound its way in and out through one of the most…
The Bluebird
A sweet melodious warble, a flash of the brightest of blue and there upon the decayed end of an apple bough, sits one of our very best of…
C.a. Reed
Illuminated by reflected sunlight from a large mirror. This nest was on the north side of the tree in shadow so that without the mirror…
Blue Jay
2 pages
Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are creatures of the New World. About five hundred species are found in North and South America. They range from Alaska to…
Anna Hummingbird
One of the most common of the several hummingbirds found in California is called the Anna Hummingbird. It in California is called the Anna…
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher
These charming little birds are very common in the southern half of the United States. Their body is but little bigger than that of a…
Wood Pewee
Belonging to an entirely different family, but still building the same type of moss-adorned nest, is the Wood Pewee. These are among the…
Veery or Wilson Thrush
2 pages
Wood Thrush
This is the largest and handsomest of our true thrushes and, in my estimation, has a much sweeter and more pleasing song than any of the…
Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
The male of this species is always popular with bird lovers, for he is very handsome, is always cheerful and has a beautiful song. The…
Bird Mimics
CATBIRD You cannot judge the disposition of a person by his clothes, neither can you judge that of a bird by its feathers. A soft gray suit…
Brown Thrasher
The Thrasher is also something of a mimic but not as accomplished a performer in that line as the Catbird. He has, however, a much better…
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Birds or "Cherry Birds" as they are very often called, unfortunately are connoiseurs of fine fruit, particularly of the various kinds…
Ruby-Thr. Humming Bird
2 pages
Chipping Sparrow
2 pages
Song Sparrow
Go where you will, throughout the length and breadth of our land and still you will find Song Sparrows. In the deserts of southwestern…
Field Sparrow
As would be judged from their name, these birds are inhabitants of fields, not fields carpeted with fresh green grass, though, but dry side…
Grasshopper Sparrow
This is one of the most inconspicuous of all sparrows. The bird itself is of a rather shy n ture and seldom allows one to approach…
The Impostor
A happy pair of Maryland Yellow-throats selected as a place in which to build their house, a spot on the bank of a tiny brook. The male…
Red-Eyed Vireo
Bringing with them the good cheer of the south, Redeyed Vireos return to northern United States about the middle of May. They are the most…
The Vireo
Bertha A. Joslin. "Dear me, dear me; hear me, hear me."
Yellow-Throated Vireo
The home of the Yellow-throated Vireo is usually swung from the fork of a branch ranging from ten to forty feet above ground, while that of…
California Bush-Tit
These little birds rank next to the hummingbirds as being the smallest birds found in our country. Diminutive as they are, being but four…
Black and White Warbler
Woodpeckers are very expert at climbing up trees; Nuthatches are equally expert at clambering down. Black and White Warblers or Black and…
Chestnut-Sided Warbler
Both this species and the Black and White Warbler are about equally common, but the nests of the Chestnut-side are much more easily found…
Prairie Warbler
These beautiful little warblers are very locally distributed. They nest usually in small colonies, one of which happens to be on a certain…
The Ovenbird
In early morning, during spring and summer, the woodland resounds with the loud, vibrant songs of Ovenbirds,- "teacher-teacher-teacher…
Yellow Warbler
The Yellow Warbler or "Summer Yellowbird" is a beautiful, little, golden sprite that we are sure to find flitting about in clumps of…
Belted Kingfisher
One June day, a friend, while roaming about on the edge of some woods, suddenly felt the earth giving way beneath his feet and sprang to…
Osprey; Fish Hawk
2 pages
My Sandpiper Friends
We were destined to become friends. For years, as long ago as I can remember, these Spotted Sandpipers, or some of their ancestors, had…
The Woodland Apartment
3 pages
Arkansas Kingbird
The Western or Arkansas Kingbird is a very different bird from our eastern one in appearance. Its underparts, instead of being white, are…
Rocky Mountain Jay
This is a sub-species of, and quite similar in appearance to, the Canada Jay commonly found in the northern tier of states and in Canada…
Loggerhead Shrike
He Perched on the topmost twig of an osage-orange tree, his gray suit and rounded form silouetted against the leaden March sky, we see the…
Flicker or Golden-Winged Woodpecker
All woodpeckers may be classed as carpenters; they all build their homes in the trunks or branches of trees. Usually decayed limbs are…
Red-Headed Woodpecker
This species is one of the most beautiful of woodpeckers. The black, the white, and the red are distributed in such large, clear-cut areas…
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
Here we have another type of woodpecker. The Flicker has a sticky tongue, perfectly adapted for catching the ants it likes so well. The…