Part 10

April Third

As soon as spring arrives and the ice has left the streams, hordes of May or shad fly nymphs can be found working their way against the current a few inches from the shore. Catch a few of them and put them in a tumbler of water and watch their external or "trachea" gills working. The adult insects are abundant in summer, but at this time of the year (even earlier), the stone flies which flit over the melting snow are often mistaken for May, or shad flies.

Notes

April Fourth

The name "purple finch" is very misleading, for the head, neck, breast, and throat of the bird are more crimson than purple. The female is often mistaken for a sparrow, as her color is dull, and her breast streaked. This finch often takes up its abode in the coniferous trees in the villages. "Its song bursts forth as if from some uncontrollable stress of gladness, and is repeated uninterruptedly over and over again." (Bicknell.)

April Fifth

If the season is not belated, you may expect to find the blood-root peeping through the rocky soil, on exposed brushy hillsides, or along the margins of the woods. You must look for it early, for its petals drop soon after the flower blossoms. The Indians used the blood-red juice which flows when the root is broken, to decorate their bodies.

April Sixth

The brush lots, roadways, and open forests in the Northern States, are now filled with juncoes on the way to their nesting grounds in Canada and the mountainous portions of this country. They are with us but a few weeks and will not be seen again until next fall. The pinkish bill and the two white outer tail-feathers are of great assistance in identifying this bird, for they are very conspicuous when it flies.

Notes

April Seventh

While walking along the bank of a stream you are quite apt to surprise a pair of pickerel lying side by side in shallow water. Save for the vibration of their fins, and the movement of their gills, they do not stir. As you approach they dart off, and you see a roily spot, where they have taken shelter among the aquatic plants.

April Eighth

The birds having white tail-feathers, or tail-feathers that are tipped with white, which show conspicuously when the owners are on the wing, are the meadowlark, vesper sparrow, chewink, snowflake, junco, blue jay, white-breasted nuthatch, Northern shrike, kingbird, hairy woodpecker, downy woodpecker, nighthawk, and whip-poor-will.

April Ninth

The clustering liverwort, hepatica, or squirrel cup, with its fuzzy stems and pretty flowers of various shades of blue, grow side by side with the white wood anemone, or wind-flower. As soon as the wood anemone blossoms, a slight breeze causes the petals to fall; that is why it is called "wind-flower."

Notes

April Tenth

One of the birds that sportsmen have protected by prohibiting spring shooting, is Wilson's snipe, or jacksnipe. Like many of the early migrants it does not nest in the United States; consequently it is only seen in the spring and fall. It is a bird of the marsh and bog, seldom seen except by those who know where and how to find it.

April Eleventh

The gall-flies, or gall-gnats, cut tiny incisions in the oak leaves and golden-rod stems, and lay their eggs between the tissues. These wounds produce large swellings which furnish the larval insects with food. If broken into at this season, one discovers that the galls on the golden-rod stems are pithy. Embedded in the pith is a white "worm," or a small black capsule, but if the "gall" is empty, a hole will be found where the fly emerged.

April Twelfth

The red-shouldered hawk is one of our common birds of prey. Its loud, somewhat cat-like cry, coming from the dense hardwood forests which border swamps, lakes, and rivers, at once attracts attention. A pair has been known to return to the same nesting locality for fifteen consecutive years. This hawk has proved itself to be of inestimable value to the farmer, and deserves his protection.

Notes

April Thirteenth

For the past six weeks, chipmunks have occasionally come out from their nests of dried grass and leaves, made in one of their several tunnels beneath the line of frost under a stone pile, or a stump. Now they are seen every day. It is only of recent years that we have discovered that chipmunks destroy grubs and insects, thus rendering service for the nuts and grain that they carry away in the fall.

April Fourteenth

Have you noticed how the robins congregate in the evening and battle with each other on the house-tops until dark? It is during the mating season that these fights take place. Long after the other birds have gone to bed. Cock Robin is awake, and shouting loud and defiant challenges to whoever will accept them.