Birds of the Rockies

Leander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser

Informations

• Publié par: zyoc
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 37
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Project Gutenberg
eBook, Birds of the
Rockies, by Leander
Sylvester Keyser,
Illustrated by Louis
Agassiz Fuertes and
Bruce Horsfall
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no
cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it,
give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg
License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Birds of the Rockies
Author: Leander Sylvester Keyser
Release Date: July 5, 2008 [eBook #25973]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK
BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES***

E-text prepared by Chris Curnow, Joseph
Cooper, Leonard Johnson,
and the Project Gutenberg Online
Distributed Proofreading Team
(http://www.pgdp.net)


Williamson's Sapsucker
Plate I
Williamson's Sapsucker Sphyrapicus thyroideus
(Figure on left, male; on right, female)
BIRDS of the ROCKIES
By LEANDER S. KEYSER
AUTHOR OF "IN BIRD LAND," ETC.
With Eight Full-page Plates (four in color)
by Louis Agassiz Fuertes; Many Illustrations
in the Text by Bruce Horsfall, and
Eight Views of Localities from PhotographsWITH A COMPLETE CHECK-LIST
OF COLORADO BIRDS
McClurg logo
CHICAGO · A. C. McCLURG AND CO.
NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWO
Book Cover
Copyright
A. C. McClurg & Co.
1902
Published September 27, 1902
TO
KATHERINE
AND
THE BOYS
IN MEMORY OF MANY HAPPY DAYS
BOTH INDOORS AND OUT
CONTENTS
Page
Up and Down the Heights 19
Introduction to Some Species 31
Bald Peaks and Green Vales 47
Birds of the Arid Plain 83
A Pretty Hummer 103
Over the Divide and Back 117A Rocky Mountain Lake 139
A Bird Miscellany 149
Plains and Foothills 177
Rambles about Georgetown 197
Ho! for Gray's Peak! 223
Pleasant Outings 259
A Notable Quartette 285
Check-List of Colorado Birds 307
Index 349
ILLUSTRATIONS
FULL-PAGE PLATES
PLATE FACING PAGE
Williamson's Sapsucker—Sphyrapicus thyroideus
Frontispiece
Green-tailed Towhee—Pipilo chlorurus; Spurred
Towhee—Pipilo megalonyx 47
Lazuli Bunting—Cyanospiza amœna 83
Lark Bunting—Calamospiza melanocorys 139
Louisiana Tanager—Pyranga ludoviciana 177
Townsend's Solitaire—Myiadestes townsendii 223
Ruddy Duck—Erismatura rubida 259
Brown-capped Leucosticte—Leucosticte australis
303
SCENIC AND TEXT
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGEWhite-Crowned Sparrows ("Their grass-lined
nests by the babbling mountain brook") 21
Turtle Doves ("Darting across the turbulent
stream") 44
Pipits ("Te-cheer! te-cheer!") 50
Pipits ("Up over the Bottomless Pit") 51
White-Crowned Sparrow ("Dear Whittier") 55
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet ("The singer elevated his
crest feathers") 65
Desert Horned Larks ("They were plentiful in this
parched region") 84
Horned Lark ("It was a dear little thing") 88
Coyote ("Looking back to see whether he were
being pursued") 100
One of the Seven Lakes 105
Summit of Pike's Peak 111
"Pike's Peak in Cloudland" 114
Cliff-Swallows ("On the rugged face of a cliff") 118
Royal Gorge 123
Pine Siskins 128
Willow Thrush 136
Brewer's Blackbirds ("An interesting place for bird
study") 139
Yellow-Headed Blackbirds ("There the youngsters
perched") 142
"From their place among the reeds" 146
The Rocky Mountain Jay ("Seeking a covert in the
dense pineries when a storm sweeps down from
the mountains") 152
Rainbow Falls 165
Water-Ousel ("Up, up, only a few inches from the
dashing current") 167
Water-Ousel ("Three hungry mouths which were
opened wide to receive the food") 171"No snowstorm can discourage him" 174
"The dark doorway" 179
Song Sparrow ("His songs are bubbling over still
with melody and glee") 194
Clear Creek Valley 201
Western Robin ("Out-pouring joy") 207
Red-Naped Sapsuckers ("Chiselling grubs out of
the bark") 211
Pigeon Hawk ("Watching for quarry") 214
"Solo singing in the thrush realm" 218
Gray's and Torrey's Peaks 245
Panorama from Gray's Peak—Northwest 249
Thistle Butterfly 252
Western White 252
Junco ("Under a roof of green grass") 255
South Park from Kenosha Hill 265
Magpie and Western Robins ("They were hot on
his trail") 271
Violet-green Swallow ("Squatted on the dusty road
and took a sun-bath") 279
"'What bird is that? Its song is good,'
And eager eyes
Go peering through the dusky wood
In glad surprise;
Then late at night when by his fire
The traveller sits,
Watching the flame grow brighter, higher,
The sweet song flits
By snatches through his weary brain
To help him rest."
Helen Hunt Jackson: The Way to Sing.BRIEF FOREWORD
With sincere pleasure the author would acknowledge
the uniform courtesy of editors and publishers in
permitting him to reprint many of the articles
comprised in this volume, from the various periodicals
in which they first appeared.
He also desires to express his special indebtedness to
Mr. Charles E. Aiken, of Colorado Springs, Colorado,
whose contributions to the ornithology of the West
have been of great scientific value, and to whose large
and varied collection of bird-skins the author had
frequent access for the purpose of settling difficult
points in bird identification. This obliging gentleman
also spent many hours in conversation with the writer,
answering his numerous questions with the intelligence
of the scientifically trained observer. Lastly, he kindly
corrected some errors into which the author had
inadvertently fallen.
While the area covered by the writer's personal
observations may be somewhat restricted, yet the
scientific bird-list at the close of the volume widens the
field so as to include the entire avi-fauna of Colorado
so far as known to systematic students. Besides,
constant comparison has been made between the
birds of the West and the allied species and genera of
our Central and Eastern States. For this reason the
range of the volume really extends from the Atlantic
seaboard to the parks, valleys, and plateaus beyond
the Continental Divide.
L. S. K.All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair or good alone.
I thought the sparrow's note from heaven,
Singing at dawn on the alder bough;
I brought him home, in his nest, at even;
He sings the song, but it cheers not now,
For I did not bring home the river and sky;—
He sang to my ear,—they sang to my eye.
Ralph Waldo Emerson: Each and All.
Not from his fellows only man may learn
Rights to compare and duties to discern;
All creatures and all objects, in degree,
Are friends and patrons of humanity.
There are to whom the garden, grove, and field
Perpetual lessons of forbearance yield;
Who would not lightly violate the grace
The lowliest flower possesses in its place;
Nor shorten the sweet life, too fugitive,
Which nothing less than infinite Power could give.
William Wordsworth: Humanity.
Sounds drop in visiting from everywhere—
The bluebird's and the robin's trill are there,
Their sweet liquidity diluted some
By dewy orchard spaces they have come.
James Whitcomb Riley: A Child World.
Even in the city, I
Am ever conscious of the sky;
A portion of its frame no less
Than in the open wilderness.
The stars are in my heart by night,
I sing beneath the opening light,
As envious of the bird; I live
Upon the payment, yet I giveMy soul to every growing tree
That in the narrow ways I see.
My heart is in the blade of grass
Within the courtyard where I pass;
And the small, half-discovered cloud
Compels me till I cry aloud.
I am the wind that beats the walls
And wander trembling till it falls;
The snow, the summer rain am I,
In close communion with the sky.
Philip Henry Savage.
UP AND DOWN THE HEIGHTS
BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES
UP AND DOWN THE HEIGHTS
To study the birds from the level plains to the crests of
the peaks swimming in cloudland; to note the species
that are peculiar to the various altitudes, as well as
those that range from the lower areas to the alpine
heights; to observe the behavior of all the birds
encountered in the West, and compare their habits,
songs, and general deportment with those of
correlated species and genera in the East; to learn as
much as possible about the migratory movements up
and down the mountains as the seasons wax and
wane,—surely that would be an inspiring prospect to
any student of the feathered fraternity. For many
years one of the writer's most cherished desires has