Page:Bird-lore Vol 06.djvu/230

 Some Familiar Florida Birds 1X7

is rather pugnacious, and shows a decided dislike to the migrants. par ticularly the Robins. not one of which will he permit to remain in the yard. He is a remarkably ﬁne singer, and imitates almost any bird that sings or calls. in that part of the state,

Next came several families of Florida Cardinal Grosbeaks, the young birds distinguishable by their very dark bills. totally unlike the pink bills of the old birds, and which gave them a most comical appearance. The young males had at ﬁrst only a few red feathers in cap and breast, to mark them from their olive sisters. The Cardinals feed on the ground quite as often as on the trees, always picking out the wheat from the food, consisting mostly of grain and oat-ﬂakes. which I scatter around for Quail. Towr bees and Ground Doves. We have counted ﬁfteen of these little beauties on our lawn in one ﬂock. each one busily engaged in cracking grains of wheat,

There were three families of Florida Blue .lays with us at one time. and the plaintive cries of the young birds could be heard from all directions. We were greatly surprised at the length of time—over one week—these ﬂuﬁy little creatures remained quietly on their own special tree without attempting to do more than hop from branch to branch. and also at the perfectly noiseless and unobtrusive ﬂitting about of the old birds. The Florida Blue jay is smaller than the northern. and has less white on wing coverts and tail. He is more inclined to he sociable, also.

At one end of our cottage is a large. outside brick chimney that extends up through a projecting roof. and on the chimney, under the roof. two Flickers have roosted. or rather bung. every night during the past two winters, a bird on each side. leaving us only in the spring. when they. too. were attending to household aﬂairs. They showed their appreciation of our hospitality. however, by bringing us four beautiful young Flickers very early one May morning. and which were evidently just from the nest. When I saw them first. they were resting close together on a pile of coquina rock just at the edge of the river, a queer place it seemed. too. for these shy ‘high»hole' birds of the woods. Their cry of three notes was most peculiar. and unmistakable alter having once been heard. One little bird would set up a shrill pipe. and wag his head from side to side, when instantly the other would do likewise—then there would be a silence for a few seconds. then a repetition of the piping and wagging. I tried to steal

out, hoping to get a snap-shot picture of them. but ther were too wary. and ﬂew awayt

Decidedly the most fascinating of all the young birds which came to us was a male Red-bellied Woodpecker, the parents of which can be seen in accompanying photographs. It was exceedingly amusing to watch the bright eyes of this dear little fellow, as be closely followed his lather from tree to tree, and to see how very conscious he was of his own importance.