OLD FARM: BIRDS Sieur de Monts Publications XXI, IVIS. copy is printed below as early draft. Completed Ms. appears in Sieur de llonts Publications (circa (918). Author: Henry L. Eno. BIRDS or OLD FARM. Adjoining the northeastern boundary of the new Sieur do Monta National Park on Mount Desert Island, the lands of Old Term stretch south and west from the high rooly shore of Frenchman's Bay towards the bold granite mountain chain whose easternmost peak, "Newport", rises precipitously a short half milo away. anemeled Inzahore from the house 110 wood and gardens, the nearest of which, deeply sheltered with a riotous tangle favored of old-fashioned bloom and high hedges, is the resort of all oreatures who love sunshine and flowers. Beyond thesgarden & broad grassy awale flows gently between tall evergreen forests from a rooky kmoll to a small COTO bordered by steep and lofty oliffs; to the north, more spruce_end pine woods shut out the cold Autumn windp and the distant village; while still further away, to the south, 110 the cultivated fields and oopses of the nurseries, rolling to the wild heavily timbered mountain lands of the Park itself. Herr within the brief compass of & few acres, therefore, are found here all the varied conditions of ocean shore, upland glade, and steep hillsides with their rooky dells and anoient forests. More broadly, also, Mount Desert Island, as whole, is singularly fortunate in its geographical looation good fortune in which, of course, Old Farm is included. -2- Near the boarderline of two great faunal areas, the Canadian and Alleghenian, and with its prominent mountains rising COM- spicuously from the sea, "L'isle des Monts Deserts," as Champlain BO picturesquely named it, now more than three hundred years agopis a preeminent rallying point for the migrating myriads which stream along our Eastern Coast upon as will as their spring and autumn journeys, besides marking a boundary beyond which many of the more southern species are scarcely to be found, or south of which many northern varieties rarely stray. Yet, although upon the low lying grassy meadows at the northern end of the Zeland, many of our familiar New England birds may be found, at Old Farm itself, with its high-oliffed shore, and forest covered ledges, the occen-chirt- ing outmost of the steep wild mountains clobuly beyond wild life the forme is characteristically Canadian. In the warmer open fields, a few miles away towards the mainland one Boes, regularly enough, Blackbirds, Swallows, Sparrows, and Bluebirds; but, here, in the rough country that borders the subartic waters at the entranoo to the Bay of Fundy, both the flora and fauna are typical of the regions much further to the north. The Brown-headed Acadian Chicadee lisps his harsh note among the spruces, Olive-backed, and Hermit/ Thrushes frequent the thickets, and an occasional Northern Raven flaps heavily along the sheer rocky sides of Newport Mountain. To the bird loving visitor from further south -3- Tr the immediate impression is of dropping baok suddenly into the months of early spring - of finding again ,among the full foliage of midsummer BO many of the familiar early migrants which filled the woods and orchards of the Middle States. nott Juncos, Purple Finches and White-throated Sparrows hop about the shrubs, the lazy rasping of the Black- throated Green Waroler is heard on every side, as well as the 11e loud trilling of the Nashvi/ and the cheery call of the Mag- nolia Blackpoll, Myrtle, Parulay and Chestnut-sided Warblers are common, and the melancholy Wood Thrush is wholly replaced easily by the or-voiced Hermit. He, course, is facilol of friet leur his voice ringing clear and sweet above the chorus of Rovins, Song Sparrows, and Red-eyed - Vireos. you so much has been written about his incomparable song that one FF hesitates to add further priase. I know, however, of no sound forest that possesses the same haunting, mysterious, and yet joyful and etherial quality as the Hermit's liquid notes - especially when heard at evening was the sun sinks in a glow behind the purple mountains, and the bay is turned to a shimmering lake of crimson and gold. The Purple Finch also is one of our most heard charming singers here at Old Farm, and he ,too, sings, at dusk, his melodious sustained warble, floating down from the topmost branch of some somber fir or hemlock. He isp homement a vain fellow, quite different from the elusive Hermit, and it is amusing to see him raise his crest and exhibit, with BO much evident pleasure, his lovely robe-pink plumage before =4- his modestly attired mate, strutting about like a minatum Purkey Gooks Ruffid grous The Small as the place is, Lte different sections Constimu quite distinct habitats for the various forms of bird life, Sparrows, Swallows, Maryland Yellow Throats, and infrequent the Hawks are l'argely confined to the open fields inshore: who Woodpockers, Fly Catchers, Vireos, and most of the Warblers ching to the upland woods, while Goldfinohes, Siskins, and Chicadees frequent the garden and its surrounding thickets, Adere also, a pair of Hummingbirds have nested for some years, The male buch of this diminuitive family puzzled me for Bomo time. as His sonly throat and ohin are jet black, his bill slightly curved, and the ruby patch only visible at near range when his feathers are much ruffled,on straight. So atypical is he, indeed, that for Bomo time I thought that he might have been one of the Blaoked Chinned species strayed strangely from his normal haunts in California. AB a good ormithologist I should have killed him to make sure, but I have become alto- gether too much attached to him. The common Warblers about the place in summer are the Rodstart, Maryland Yellow Throat, Myrtle, Magnolia, Black-throated Green, Parula, and Nashville. The Yellow, Blackpoll, Chestnut-sided, Black and White, and Ovenbird are less usual, but still fairly abundant; and this family, aside from the Robins and Sparrows, constitute the bulk of the bird population. The Redstarts with their brilliant black and flame coloured plumage dart about everywhere, and, with the -6- lovely blue and yellow Magnolia, are decidedly the hansomest of their clan; although & pair of Chestnut-sided Warblers nesting in a low spruce, with their brilliant yellow crowns, ruch ohestnut markings, and an altogether fascinating triplet of fluffy gray babies no larger than giant bumble boos, soemed soarcely less beautiful. FlyCathhere are very unusual on the place, the for some reason which I have been unable while to discover, - there is plenty of water and appropriate food; had pard the almost ex- clusively Canadian chargoter of the is clearly shown from the fact that I have never seen here a Blackbird, Bobo- link, Oriole, or Meadowlark. Strolling down the grassy swale to the shore, the change to even more northern conditions is, for the naturalist, almost theatrical - as though a ourtain were sud- denly raised upon an entirely new setting. A oold breeze from the sub-arotic surge rises from the rooky beaches. Heming Gulls, and, not infrequently, Arctio Tems wheel above the waves and plunge in the ioy waters. Double-crested Comarants flap ingracefully by. A pair of splendid Bald-headed Eagles, which nost nearby on Newport, as well as many Ospreys, are frequent visitors; and the harsh oroak of the Northern Raven is often heard. There seems to DO an unchained hatred between the Gulls and the Eagles, the Gulls vioiously chasing away their kingly rivals upon every occasion. I have never, -B- however, Been the Eagles interfere with the Ospreys, in the picturesque manner which our youthful natural histories have taught us. On the contrary the larger birds appear shy, sluggish, and quite content to be left alone. But the autumn is the most exciting time to brach loiter on the shore. with the first frosty nights oome the BOB fowl t from their remote breeding places on the Bhorea of Greenland or the uninhabited Trotic fastnesses - Loons from OB the high inland lakes, Kittiwake, Ring-billed Bonaparth and great Black-backed Gulls; as well as Ducks innumerable of many varieties; while now and again the dark bullet-head of a seal, with his great dog-like, pathetic eyes,may be seen forging slowly through the oalm cold waters. The shore birds,too,are and now returning, Solitary, Semi-palmated Sandpipers and Yellow- legs. with an occasional rarer Bojourner. As in the spring, in even more conoentrated fashion; with the intervals-between them loss spread apart, successive waves of migration sweep down the coast, lured by the mountain landmarks of the Island, as by a mighty beacon light by which they assemble, and from which they take their departure for the long southward journey. Upon moonlight nights the wild cry of the Great Northern Diver, or the grating call of his smaller cousin, the Red-throated Loon, drifts wierdly from the Day. The oackling and splashing of hundreds of Sootoga is heard in the offing, mingled with the yelping of Old-Squaws and the -7- quacking of Black Bucks and Morgansors. Various species HER of the small Grebes popularly known as -bob up and down close to the rocky shores, Long strings of gloomy looking Comorants trail to their roosting places on the steep cliffs of the nearit Islands, Great Blue Herons flap majestical- ly across the waters, and more rarely, & splendid wedge of Wild Geese goes hurtling aoross the sky. The sea,Min its mildest aspects, possesses always Tr arm something of fascination and mystery, but upon a olear autumn day, upon this rooky northern coast, it has a populous wild- ness that brings vividly to mind the wonderful natural con- Existed ditions which must have obtained during the long centuries before the white man like an evil destroying angel,had set foot upon thes virgin shore. What, alas, would the spictin naturalist not give for some occult retroactive clairvoyance - like Peter Ibbetson's - to call up, in actual vision; the wild splendour of those bygone years! Birds by the thousand, where now there are but scores. Wild Turkeys, Pass Engine nn Pidgeons, and Pit ated Grouse flooking through the forests; The Great Auk, the early minus, Tuffins, and Razor-billed Auks; upon the rocks; Eiders, Labradore Ducks, and Canvas Backs floating in the Bay. Inshore, too, the autumn is, in many ways, the most interesting time for observation. For at this season, the bird life is not only abundant and concentrated, but, like counter currents against the tide, stray individuals occasionally wander far from their native haunts in South -8- or West. Last September a Blue-gray Gnat Catcher, with his long tail and quaint call, flitted about the birches for several days, although he is a rare bird even as far south as New Jersey; and, in the fall of '13 I saw a pair of White- eyed Vireos - a bird of whose rango Massachusetts is consider- ed the northern limit. In September, also, come the Gray-cheeked and Bickmue Thrushes, rostless and quiet, keeping to the dense undergrowth or deep woods, the Yellow Palm and wilson's Warblers. Chicadees, Nuthatches and Creepert which have seemed BO soarce during the warmer works, seen suddenly to be everywhere. Hawks of various kinds oirole high against the glittering northwest-wind sky, and Nature's compass points South again. By October the great rush is over, and the strictly warm weather birds linger only in rare groups or couples, temptod, perhaps, by the gentle spell of early Indian Summer. Towards the end of the month, however, the vanguard of the hardy winter migrants drifts in of usually upon a frosty morning, bringing with it I don't know what of strange northern atmosphere. They come quietly enough; those sturdy visitors, Redpolls, White-crowned Sparrows, restless Crossbills, and Therr npen Pine Grosbeaks with Same, parrot-like ways, but with their coming the whole background of the countryside changes. The mountains take on a sterner outline, the heavens grow more remote, the stars at might have a steely glitter, and the distant Arotic with its everlasting snows seems suddenly to -9- grow monaoingly near. For these gnad Bea seasone at changes, BO succinctly epitomized by their characteristic Bird life, always fill me with fresh awe, and it should scarcely be & source of wonder that the anoients delifed them,and payed reverence. with appropriate and solemn ceremonial. They are the by- yearly systole and diastole of old Earth's mighty heart, and have always something of the splendour possessed by majon all of Nature's rythms. The winter birds, too. are unquestionably more sociable in every way than the summer residents, and con- sequently more easily interesting to observe. They are scarcer, appeal more to the priordial hunting instinct, and branclus show up more among the evergreens and bare bows than the multitudes that were BO lately overbusied with the absorbing cares of nest building and infant feeding. They seem more human, and the individual differences among them stand out more clearly. one gets intimate with certain bird personal- ities, poculiarities of voice or plumage, quaint tricks of a oflivela purcosing manner. And one fanoies that sufficient number pr these prealiantic sequestered in some way from the rest of the species, would result, after no long period, in starting a fresh variety with quite new characteristion. -how spoken of my black throated It would seem that hile my Hammybrd a few score of simillar individuals, breeding every Summer in this cool and doudy northwastern corner of their range, and conceivably wintering in some similarly temperate corner -10- of Central America, might, in time, lose the already much restricted tropical brilliancy of their ruby feathering, and become really "black-throated" altogother. It may be pure fancy, also, but the Song Sparrows with-us seem larger, darker, and fuller voiced than their representatives in the Central States. If there really were an Acadian variety, the moister, less sunny climate might well account for it, especially as the birds which breed so far north presumably winter nearer by than Hu majority alwas range is many others of their species which summer miles more to further who he-south, and are thus subjected to 1000 marked conditions of heat and dryness throughout the whole year. perpetually puzzling question to the bird lover is the notable difference in the abundance of certain species year from to year. Last season the Red-Eyed Vireos were as common and noisy as the Ropins: this summer they are scarce. on the other hand Nashville Warblers may be found upon almost every bush, whereas a year ago they were decidedly infrequent. Yet both of these birds are listed as "Common summer residents" in this vicinity. Have they respectively found better accommodations here or else- where? or have some of the many undiscoverable vicissitudes which beset our migrants actually decreased the numbers of the one species, while augmenting the ranks of the other? One is tempted to favour the latter solution, because, during the -11- of earlier months this sbring the same relative abundance was observed in New Jersey, where all sorts of Warblers were unusually numerous, and the Vireos, generally, were far from common. One wonders what unrecorded tragedies of sickness or fatal storma may not 110 hidden here. Insurt 11A, It is easily to be seen, ;herefore, how many unsolved problems 110 waiting to be cleared up even among the men dunn lit different eeasmo hundred or BO different kindp of birds which con lugate w3thin so limited an oma as old Family the narrow boundaries of single private place during the accluman different sessons. For, well-as we seem to know Bomo of our feathered Friends. their arrivals and departures, their (or will MEDICAL relative numbers, the poculiarities and 11fe histories of individuals, the real motives which determine their BO various activities - of all these we possess as yet,but the most superficial knowledge! and even more than the winds of heaven, their coming and going is still voiled in a fasoinat- ing mystery. Groberty Loans Sandpipoz (7) Sandpiper (ii) Soliter Andpipe: LOOM Spottod BlackSurroated Loon Semi-palmated Plover LOOR Danada Russed Grouse Narsh Hawa mank parented COLL Sharp Groupe HOLVINE Gola 00000000 Hawk Bondpartor Guil (R) Goshawa Gill Rno shouldered Bawk Common Torn Broad-claiged Hawk Aratio TOTAL Goldon-E4glo (R) Deaches Bald Eagle Corrorant Duck Hawk (R) Double-orested Cormorant Pidgeon Hawk Black Duok Sparrow Hawk Pintail Osprey Bufflo Head Black-billed Oukoo old Squaw Belted Kingfisher Amazioan Booter Hatry Woodpooker White-winged Booter Downy Surr Sooter Red-headed Woodpecker Great Blue Heron Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Black-crowned Night Heron Flioker Dorr Papers. B2.F8. TORDIOR Ruby-crowned Wight Northorn Paruld Warbior Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Yellow Veery Thrush Mattle WARDAOS Magnolin warble 011 VC backed Thrush Chestnut-sided warbier Hermit Thrueh say4breasted Masbier Robin Blackburnier Sin Bluebird Blackpoll 134 Blaok throated Warblor 7.6 Pino Marbler Zollaw Paid marbier Ovenbird Laton whreeh Maryland follow-throat Wilson's Warblar Redatart Cathria House Iren Brown Creeper Chicadee Acadian Ohioadeo Goldon-growned Kight 12 channing-ways and marked personalities, you Conficuously and Heo mystem Typifud so pretunainely by ku brds min them shand by all that grama and dus - ut short livid summer Hoom, unc agr long for giant, may thy, Hut clowly thicding and decaying hills 1 all This seems Couentely and rop, cially to brood orm DCd Fami all fi deems to be concentrated in this little corner of Uu cleinitable unwara ) Everything they Guo tren in the its unimaginally ancient weko; all that is in we ramed environment of hile, and sture, and ocean; and all that is yrr to come symbolyjed in Uu from of its abundaus and organic life The momulamis an hen and we sea, ku needour, inhabitants; WiLL tranty, the intense, and Uu Trajidy of life- garden, Damila fonoT, and appearan, with Uuir characteristic and allthigh all of this may for found Elaswhen. yet comelin, it shome bere mon clearly cul in its profound contrasts, mi purple shadows on Hu hillsides, we fumished stur of -eky, the slown surge of Uu sea upon a summer night. ILA Gr, Slui another Fact line procestions Stamps of centant individuals long after Companions han left, dan in have Them an a who lungon into Early winter, and a handful Em informate pass unc whole cold-mater Leaver near uw coast an oceaumel or myru warter as like eventures found in' au mud muter mouths auda Phobe stayed with Uu End of m R br ran modern straggless so late store of Unner approar A incapacient on uu aritany they ream cutinly contented in them misrasonalli sum rundings. Can TG that her again, m are comprouled with us Exmmus findindual diffneces Erm anony live lower from faminal eye and that who nu explanation to pay derlogical q Preertam yet hid presonalities acluating Junn cold no wealth depry or decelitive Gyluch there ban herm allacted, Erm the when Hours y ocanly food aupply and o u vo physical discomforts super Arany rah, two 2 other sufficient - explanation