Part 11

April Fifteenth

Fungi are the lowest forms of plant life. They subsist on living and dead organic matter, and not from the soil, as do most other plants. The bread molds, downy mildew on decaying fruit and vegetables, and the fungus that kills fish and insects, are all forms of fungi. Patches of luxuriant grass are seen where decaying fungi have fertilized the soil.

Notes

April Sixteenth

The continuous "chip-chip-chip-chip-chip-chip----" of the chipping sparrow, like a toy insect that must run down before it can stop, is always a welcome sound at this time of the year. He can easily be tamed to take food from one's hand. Although a neat nest-builder, "chippy" selects poor nesting sites, and often the wind upsets his hair-lined cup and destroys the eggs or young.

April Seventeenth

At first the song of the spring peeper, which is really a frog, is heard only in the evening, but as the days get warmer, a perfect chorus of piping voices comes from swamps and stagnant pools. He strongly objects to singing before an audience, but it is well worth one's while to wait patiently and catch him in the act of inflating the skin beneath his chin.

April Eighteenth

On account of its tufted head, and clear, ringing song, "peto, peto, peto, peto" or "de, de, de, de," much like a chickadee (Chapman) the tufted titmouse is a well-known bird throughout its range: eastern United States, from northern New Jersey, and southern Iowa to the plains.

Notes

April Nineteenth

Where is the country boy or girl who does not know the "woolly bear," or "porcupine caterpillar," the chunky, hairy, rufous and black-banded caterpillar, that curls up when touched and does not uncoil until danger is over? They are the larvæ of the Isabella moth, and the reason for their appearance on the railroad tracks and wagon roads, is that they have just finished hibernating and are now looking for a suitable place to retire and change to chrysalides and then into moths.

April Twentieth

In the Northern States, where the red-headed woodpecker is not very common, it is apt to be confused with other species of woodpeckers. The red-headed woodpecker is scarlet down to its shoulders. The eastern woodpeckers that have the red crescent on the back of the head are flicker, downy, and hairy woodpeckers.

April Twenty-first

The gardener, while spading about the roots of a tree, will often throw out a number of white, chunky grubs, about the size of the first joint of one's little finger. These are the larvæ of the June, or May beetle. In the fall, they dig below frost line, where they remain until the following spring. After three years of this life, they emerge from the ground in May and June, perfect beetles.

Notes

April Twenty-second

The myrtle, or yellow-rumped warbler, which spends the winter from Massachusetts, south, into the West Indies and Central America, and nests usually north of the United States, is very common now. It is found in scattered flocks. If in doubt of its identity, look for the yellow patch on the crown, and on the rump.

April Twenty-third

The dainty little spring beauty, or claytonia, is another of the early blooming flowers. "We look for the spring beauty in April or May, and often find it in the same moist places--on a brook's edge or skirting of wet woods--as the yellow adder's tongue." (Dana.)

April Twenty-fourth

Toads are now beginning to leave their winter beds, in the leaves, under stones and the like. Did you ever tie a piece of red cloth on a string, dangle it over a toad's head, to see him follow and snap at it? Toads exude a strong acid secretion from the pores of the skin, which is distasteful to most predatory animals, excepting the snakes.

Notes

April Twenty-fifth

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is the only member of the woodpecker family whose presence is objectionable. His habit of puncturing the bark of trees and then visiting the cups to catch the sap, is well known. At any time of the year, row after row of these holes may be seen on fruit-trees (usually apple and pear)--written evidence of his guilt. See if you can catch him in the act.

April Twenty-sixth

Turkey buzzards, or vultures, are repulsive and ungainly when on the ground, but they are by far the most graceful of all our large birds when in flight. They are rarely seen in New England, or in the Northern States of the Middle Atlantic group, but in the South they are common throughout the year. Mounting high in the air, they circle 'round and 'round with scarcely a flutter of the wings, but nervously tilting to right or left, like a tight-rope walker with his balancing pole.