Page:Condor13(3).djvu/20

 98 THE CONDOR Vol. XIII English Sparrows (Passer domesticus) in spite of their commonness, their rank hoodlumism, their ceaseless clamor, and their strenuous antipathy to the presence of more welcome birds--in their relation to the economy of nature afford a subject well worthy of study. During the winter of 1902-1903 there were none of these birds about my premises. In 1903 a flock suddenly appeared late in October, and spent the remainder of the fall and all winter with me. Often I met with some ' of the members of this flock along the creek among the trees, where their impu- dent chirps seemed strangely and strongly incongruous. When we reflect upon their prompt and confident manner of taking possession of new territory, as here illustrated, we can easily understand how it is that these birds, since the fifties, have been enabled to overrun our country so largely. We can see that although the fittest in nature must s_urvive, yet the fittest 6f nature's plan are not always those that appeal to our sympathies as being the best. The bluebird is continually being driven from the neighborhood of our houses by the noisy and bellicose spar- rows. Now, what being in the realm of nature, in a higher sense, is "fitter" to enjoy the best in life than is that emblem of innocence and purity, that "bit of blue sky," the bluebird? Yet the fittest of the biologist is the organism that is able to cope best with its surroundings; and where can we find a better example of such a being than is the English Sparrow? How and why, it has succeeded so well, is thus pointed out by Coues: "This species, of all birds, naturally attaches itself most closely to man, and easily modifies its habits to suit such artificial surround- ings; this ready yielding to conditions of environment, and prbfiting by them, makes it one of the creatures best fitted to survive in the struggle for existence under whatever conditions man may afford or enforce; hence it wins in every competition veith native birds, and in this country has as yet developed no counter- acting influences to restore a disturbed balance of forces, nor any check whatever upon its limitless increase." I do not recall ever having seen a House Wren ( Troglodytes aedon parkmani) at my stamping ground on Medicine Root, but at'Grass Creek they were very abundant. At the former station the number of large trees is not great, while at the latter place there are many good-sized willows and elms having numerous hol- lows and knot-holes', and perhaps it is for this reason that there are innumerable wrens at Grass Creek, but I do not know. They become common about the second week in May. "Music hath charms" is a saying trite but true. The charm about the song of our Dakota wren, however, resides not altogether in the music of it. When the ditty falls upon our ears the associative faculties straightway bring up mental pictures of other scenes and sounds. In the wilds of Dakota, with Indians roam- ing here and there, with the Bad Lands blazing in the sun, and with a strange sky overhead, close your eyes and hearken to the singing of the wren. Immediately fond remembrance brings back the surroundings of your boyhood days in Illinois, the ool, moist groves of maples, and the little House Wren pausing to warble joy- ously during the intervals of its labor of collecting larwe for the hungry brood. Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) were more numerous at Grass Creek than at Medicine Root. During the t[ew years throughout which I studied' them in Dakota, they became common at any time from May 3 to May 17, and after mid- September they were seen no more. A pair of thrashers that had built their nest in a bush not far from the dwelling house used 'to visit my cord-wood pile for borers to feed to their nestlings. Once when I approached the nest, the mother bird, who was on the point of giving one of these larv e to her young, swallowed the insect herself in order that she might the better scold me. I estimated that