Eccentricities Of Birds

Wc aro seldcni ddscompOMd bj tin of birds ; all such muj-ic, however, is not coiuposing. We are plcamd with the loág of the whip-poor-will, especial!; if no more than two or three are heard at the same tinie and are fur apart. This measurod music is picasant, partly on account of its formality, and yet l'or this reason tliey fix our attention. A sjng is not necessary to make the voice of' a bird picasant. Take the chickadee - his note is aerecable, though not measured or continuous ; the cali note of this bird is very animated, f'rom which it gets the mime. Chickadee-doe-dee is always uttered at regular intervals of' two or three minutes eaoh by the bird. This bird does not forage in compact flocks, like sparrows and otber granivorous birds, whose food, consisting of the seeds of grassc.s, is distributed over almost every field. The fbod of the chickadee, being of insccts and their eggs and chrysalides, which are lodged upon the wood and bark of trees, is not abundant at any one place, and has to be obtairw' Lr hiï searcn they '" "-"'peUea, therefore, to fcatter, HKe the woodpeckers, because their fbod is scattered. Woodpeckers are much less noisy than the chickadee ; they have not so many notes of greeting as the latter ; their hammering upon trees appears to answer a BÍmilar purpose. Nature appears to bestow on birds and animáis only just such an amount of languagc as their wants ni uire. The downy woodpecker is almnst alwny.found as8;ciated with the chickadee; he is distinguished by his speckled plmnage, bis scarlel crown and his sudden and rapid flight. This Hiiall bird appears, as it were, a coinpanion of the ohichadce. In the season of winter, birds of' like babita hum a general inclination to assouiatc, for mutual protection ; they seem to be checrid by hearing the voices of others around them. The small waodpsckett, the ereep er.-, and the chiekadees have a sort of affinity; they keep wiihin hearing of nafa other f rom a social feeling, of which they probably have no loss tban the gregatiuus species. A singular habit of the downy woodpeokar, and one with wliich all are fanniiar, is that which lias given hini the name ot "sap-sucker." Babores little hale 8l through the bark of the tMO, usiiülly an apple tree, not penetrating into the wuod. These holes form a complete circle around the branch of the tree, about half an inch apart. No theory bas yet been advanced that satisfactorily atplatM the nljcit ot' the bird in niaking these perfbratimis. The theory that they are made for the pCU pese of sap sucking is perhapi the most plausible one. Admittitig tliis tlieory. the cause of' thiir iimliaseitl in a circle is st til unexplained. Parman mre tonnerly disposed to consider iIiü.sü gapsacker8 injurious to the healih of tntt, bat obwt vations have proved their hainilessMo.ss. The gregarious habit ot certain fq of binls, and the mnri! solitary habils of others, are the nece ora neo of their different ways of feeding, 'flio inieotBaten alone among land birds are sclil in asmiated in flocks, but they are fond of ■HHDMf and do not like to bc tlooé, I ligrauivuruus biids, on the corilrury. with a few excupiioDS, are gregarious. Sosh are the EngliMh sparrow and buntings. Compare, iu this respect, the comiiuum robin and the red-winged blaekbird. The rabio is exclusively inMirtivurous ; the fruit he consumes is not his .-ulisti'niv, and he swallowa no kinds of' MOdii Tl'e ledwiug, on the contrary, is oiiinivorous, and is a a great eonsumer of evcry kind of train. Heuce rohtai are never seen in nrne or compact flocks. The cause of this differBM af their habits U that robins, oa account of their exclusive dtet of' rubs and insects, are obliged to furage singly : while blackbirds, wlio are voraciotis ut övery eatable substance that lies upon the groumi, glU I wlmli; field by going in ciiinpanics. All seed-ivitt rs do aot a-8omble in compact üucks. The géldtinch, or thistlo bird, and nearly all the tiliches, are examplo. OoUfinohet are ohoioe and duinty in their food; tlny peok the seods directly trom the plant tliai b re them, and take off the sliulls bafon they swallow the kerneis. The goldtincli huuts for his coreal food in the same way M iln chicken hunts for his grubs and insiris. The goldfineh is not an invetérate singer - he i seljora heard to finish a tune - he loes not devote his whole timo to song; aor h he like the red thrush, -itting tur half an hour on the sanie branch singing without ce.ssation. One peculiar habit ol lilis ycllow bird (goldfinch) is that the male bird, after bumiing a nest, will peok it lu ioccs and buUd another nest ef thu same material n iis vicinity. Tlie fir.st nest is not occupied in auy insUDoe, and tin1 nöond one sometimes retnaina vacant. It appears to be the niceived opinión that the iig af a bird is a dÚiaUwQBted eftbrt un the part of the male to comfort his mate while sitting on her nest. The song ccrtaiuly produces the dexired effect, bui this does nut appear to bo the motive ot' the songster. It in, on the centrary, an outpouring ot' his impatieooa on account of her absence, and an effort on his part to cali some other female tojoinhim. Though the mulo lird often takeR his turn upon the nest during iocubation, he ia hupatient while thus employed, and spends only a small jart of his time in the discharge of his duty. Kven in procuring food for the young brds he is not as diligent as his mate; watch a pair of robins when llicy have a brood of young to feed, and it will be seen that the female provides the u'riiitcr part of their food; watch, also, a matt-d pair in acommon flock of pigeons - while the female is employed in her maternal duties, her lonesome partner resumes the same loud cooing that was hcard when he was choosing his mate. The delight which he always shows when some unmated female responda to his cali is very tviilcnt. He must, thcrefore, be pronounced a great flirt. Tbere aipears to be a purposo in the cries of' birds, as well as of other animáis ; tlie cackling of a hen always dinturbs the male bird ; the drumming of a pheasant 'excites the wrath of every male of his own species, and frequently ends in a fight Uinls, when captured, generally utter similar cries, and courageous animáis make a louder noise when seizod than those of a timid species. The pig, in its wild state, is very courageous ; when one of a herd is in danger, the whole herd will run to its protection. Sheep, on the contrary, when one of their number is attacked, do not turn to protect it, but run away ; the captured one only moans ; but makes no loud oclas. Birds in general are more determined in defending one of their number, when captured, than quadrupeds, and are therefore more vociferous when tbey fall nto the hands of au eneray. It may, therefore, be said that the couraee of any species of animáis, at least of thoBe which are gregarious, may be estimatt-d as in a direct ratio to the noise they uiake when captured. [Flagg. The introduction of the English sparrow into this country is mueh to be regretted; their presence is asuredly a bar to the multipliiMtion otf the soveral admired and important species of native small birds. TIih is the opinión of those who have had the best opportuiiities of judging. The sparrows allow the smaller birda no peace, and will eventually drive them all away froiii park 8, gardetis and roadsides. To save the native house birds irom their encroachmtnts, small boxes sbould be oonstructed in such a way as to exclude the sparrows ; to protect wrens and swallows, the holes sliould be made of just such diuien.-ions as to ailmit these small birds, so that the spuroirs, which aro larger,