Birds and Nature Vol. 11 No. 1 [January 1902]

For the Christmas chimes to toll.

Beautiful snowflakes are softly falling
Like down from an angel’s wings,
Beautiful snowflakes are softly falling
While the snow bird merrily sings.

    – J. Frank Richman.

THE SHARP-SHINNED HAWK

(Accipiter velox.)

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is a hardy and courageous bird with an extended range, covering North America as far south as Panama. Unlike the larger number of birds, it breeds throughout its range, even as far north as the Arctic circle. In the fall months it passes over the middle states in large numbers. One writer says that he observed several hundred during a single day’s tramp, the majority flying very high in the air. In the spring, usually in March and April, the same scene is repeated during their northward flight.

Much of the bad repute in which the hawks are held is due to the depredations of the Sharp-shinned and its sister species the Cooper’s and goshawks. All these feed, to a great extent, upon the smaller birds, grouse and poultry. The smaller mammals, such as the troublesome field rodents, form a much smaller proportion of their food than is the case with the other hawks.

Dr. A. K. Fisher, speaking of the Sharp-shin, says: “Little can be said in favor of this hawk, although its daring, courage and impudence are to be admired. A score of valuable species suffer because they belong to a class which includes two or three noxious kinds. However, like most villains, it has at least one redeeming quality, and that is its fondness for the English sparrow, our imported bird nuisance. This Hawk is gradually learning that there is a never-failing supply of food for it in the larger towns and cities, and it is not uncommon in Central Park, New York, all through the winter, where the writer has witnessed it chasing sparrows.”

The Sharp-shinned Hawk is brave and full of dash and spirit. It does not hesitate to attack birds fully as large as itself and in one instance it was known to strike down a night heron, which obtained its liberty only because its discordant squawks so disconcerted its ordinarily cool and collected enemy that it was frightened away. Even though its wings are short and seemingly not fitted for rapid progress, its flight, when in the pursuit of prey, is very swift and direct. “No matter which way the selected victim may turn and double, his untiring pursuer is equally prompt, and only rarely will it miss capturing its quarry. Once struck, death fortunately follows quickly, as it fairly transfixes its victim’s vitals with its long and sharp talons.”

Audubon well describes the habits of this bird. He says: “While in search of prey, the Sharp-shinned Hawk passes over the country, now at a moderate height, now so close over the land, in so swift a manner that, although your eye has marked it, you feel surprised that the very next moment it has dashed off and is far away. In fact, it is usually seen when least expected and almost always but for a few moments, unless when it has procured some prey and is engaged in feeding upon it. The kind of vacillation or wavering with which it moves through the air appears perfectly adapted to its wants; for it undoubtedly enables this little warrior to watch and to see at a single quick glance of its keen eyes every object, whether to the right or to the left, as it pursues its course. It advances by sudden dashes, as if impetuosity of movement were essential to its nature, and pounces upon and strikes such objects as best suit its appetite, but so very suddenly that it appears quite hopeless for any of them to try to escape.”

The nest of this species is usually built in dense hemlock or other cone-bearing trees, though a deciduous tree is sometimes selected. It prefers also a site not more than twenty to forty feet from the ground. It is said that the nest is sometimes built in the crevices of cliffs or in hollow trees. This may be the case in Arctic regions, but it is not the usual habit of the bird within the borders of the United States. The nests are very large, as compared with the size of the bird, varying in diameter from twenty to thirty inches, outside measurement. The walls are usually constructed with twigs and lined with smaller ones and strips of the fibrous inner bark of coniferous trees. Instances have been reported in which the walls were nearly eight inches in thickness.

As a rule the Sharp-shinned Hawk does not defend its nest from the attack of intruders. There are, however, a few instances recorded in which both the male and female birds fought a person who was climbing to their nest, by repeatedly striking at the intruder.

As befits a bird that possesses such a character as that of the Sharp-shinned Hawk, it is practically a voiceless bird and seldom utters a sound except when its nest is approached. At such times its cries have been described as like those of a flicker.

BIRDS ON THE WING

In a picturesque little hill-town in eastern Massachusetts, where I was spending the summer, I had opportunities for studying birds, their language, and their customs. I shall not soon forget a remarkable sight in the heavens on the evening of August 26. I was suddenly attracted by an unusual twittering and calling of the birds, and, on looking out of a window, I saw a multitude of birds of various sizes, from the tiniest of hare-birds, or sparrows, to birds as large as robins, flying in all directions and filling the air, it seemed, with their songs and their soft little notes. Ah, I thought, the birds are having a gala day, a picnic, or a ball, or perhaps a regatta. They were sailing, soaring, whirling, diving, dipping, in intricate mazes, yet with a certain method that was both bewildering and charming. Perhaps they were trying their wings for their southern journey; perhaps they were merely taking a twilight constitutional en masse. The hour was a little past six o’clock. The southern sky was pale blue, overspread with soft, translucent clouds of opaline hues, paling and flushing – a most fascinating picture of itself, and a fine background for the bird parade. All around great trees rose in billowy masses of emerald green, maples and elms predominating; while, standing like tall sentinels, two giant Lombardy poplars rose above them all, looking straight up to the heavens. In pauses of the dance the birds seemed to sink into these bowers of green, and for a few moments no bird was seen. Then, from somewhere, one came sailing through the air, then two, then three, with little notes of command, as when the leader of an orchestra with his baton begins the overture, and then a general rush of wings and the whirling and wheeling and dipping and darting was again in full play.

This display of bird maneuvring continued for about half an hour. I viewed it from a doorway where I could command the whole scene, which was enchanting and something which I had never before seen.

I have not the presumption to suppose that it was a field-day review gotten up for my especial benefit; yet I enjoyed it quite as much as if it were.

It is possible that they were swallows out on a foraging expedition, for the day before a shower of small, green flies swept through the air, lighting here and there and everywhere within its radius. Perhaps the birds had discovered a school of these flies in the air and took sudden advantage of the aerial sporting grounds. Whatever may have been the occasion, I wonder if such bird parades are often seen.

    M. D. Tolman.

A SUNSET CLUB

The mere idea of another club may be unwelcome in these days of many clubs, yet I am so bold as to desire the existence of a new one; and I would urge all who can, to become members of it as soon as possible.

Unlike most clubs, it will have no officers, nor any rules and regulations; neither will there be initiation fees nor dues to pay.

The object of the club will be the study of art, as it is displayed in Nature’s studio; and the only requisites for membership are a love of beauty and a few minutes’ time each day. The club will be in session every day at sunset, and all members are urged to be present at any place where they can command a view of the western sky. They will thus be enabled to study the latest picture from the brush of that master artist, Nature.

No art gallery on earth can afford its visitors such a succession of masterpieces as will be open to the view of all members of this club. There is no artist so resourceful, none capable of giving such an endless variety of colors and effects as Nature.

To attempt to describe the beauties that are daily set before us would be vain; for who can adequately express in words the marvels of a sunset sky? No mere words, however carefully chosen and accurately used, can convey to the mind its unspeakable glories. These must reach us through our eyes, those “windows of the soul.” Shall it be said of us that we “have eyes and see not”?

This evening the sun went down in a blaze of orange fire, deep and transparent, and a few minutes after the great ball had dropped below the horizon, the orange glow at the base melted into pale green above, then clear yellow and delicate pink, with infinite graduations of exquisite shading. Words fail, and leave me helpless before such a masterpiece I can only hope that many other people were enjoying it with me, as its beauties stirred my inmost soul.

Some days ago the sun’s setting was followed by one great expanse of deep orange red from the horizon up to a bank of cloud which hung like a gray curtain, slightly raised, across the western sky. Another day the afterglow was an inimitable, transparent lemon-yellow, across which were stretched two horizontal bars of rose-colored cloud. In the foreground of these pictures are the beautiful trees, which, having now laid aside their leafy robes, appear in their loveliness and diversity of outline. A good opera glass is a great aid to the fuller enjoyment of the pictures, as it brings out the perspective more clearly, and deepens and intensifies the colors.

When a day has been clouded and dull, some may think it not worth while to attend the meeting of the Sunset Club. But they are mistaken. Who that admires a beautiful picture in black and white – a fine engraving – can fail to see the beauty of this sunset picture; this living picture in half tones, which is so superior, so much more perfect in every detail than the work of man? Nay, never miss a meeting if you can possibly be present: never fear that you will fail to find beauty there if you look for it.

Let us not complain if we cannot possess works of art wrought by human brains and hands, when we often fail even to look at, much less appreciate, the daily art of Nature which is our birthright, and which perhaps we regard but lightly, because it is free to everyone with seeing eyes and beauty-loving soul. Let us rather cast off the scales that blind our eyes and hide from us the visible expression of a Creator’s love, the beauty of Nature.

And our lives shall be enriched an hundred fold.

    Anne Wakely Jackson.

QUARTZ

This is the most abundant, most durable and most indestructible of common minerals. There is scarcely a sand beach, field or mountain side upon which this mineral cannot be found in some form or other. Its abundance is due not so much to its excess in quantity in the underlying rocks as to the fact that, being harder and less easily decomposed than other minerals, it remains after they are worn away.

Though so common, it appears in so great a variety of colors and different kinds of structure that a large collection of minerals looking very much unlike might all be made up of Quartz. If they were all of Quartz they would have the following characteristics: Hardness, 7 (cannot be scratched with a knife blade); specific gravity, two and a half times as heavy as water; no cleavage; fracture conchoidal (shell-like); infusible before the blowpipe; insoluble in common acids. The numerous varieties of Quartz can be grouped into two classes, the pheno-crystalline (plainly crystalline) and the crypto-crystalline (obscurely crystalline). This article deals with the plainly crystalline varieties. These include, among other varieties, rock crystal, amethyst, rose quartz, smoky quartz, and sagenitic quartz. These varieties all occur in well formed crystals, and all have a vitreous luster, i. e., luster like that of glass. The differences between them are almost exclusively differences of color.

Rock Crystal – This is quartz in its purest form. Typical rock crystal is perfectly transparent and colorless, but the mineral is often more or less clouded and opaque. By the ancients it was supposed to be petrified ice, and hence the Greeks applied to it their word for ice, from which we get our word crystal. The belief in its ice origin survived to a comparatively late period, for in 1676 Robert Boyle opposed the idea, stating that the quartz could not be ice, first because it was two and a half times as heavy as water, and second because it was found in tropical countries. The belief of the ancients probably came largely from the fact that the quartz they knew was obtained from the peaks of the Alps. They reasoned that it was ice that was frozen so hard that it would never melt. Fortunately our present knowledge of chemistry prevents us from any longer confounding the two substances, for we know Quartz is oxide of silicon while water is oxide of hydrogen.

Quartz in the form of rock crystal occurs in all parts of the globe, and for the most part in well-formed crystals. These crystals are usually six-sided, and usually have the form of a prism capped by a pyramid. Hot Springs, Arkansas, and Little Falls, New York, are the best known localities in our own country for this form of crystallized quartz. The Little Falls crystals are exceptionally brilliant and well formed. From this locality and others the material, cut or uncut, is often known as diamonds, and sold as such. Such stones can, of course, be easily distinguished from true diamond, for while they will scratch glass, their hardness is much below that of the king of gems and they utterly lack the internal fire of the latter.

Rock crystal occurring in large, clear masses is often cut into ornamental and useful objects such as seals and paperweights, and especially into balls. The latter industry flourishes especially in Japan, and perfectly clear quartz balls six inches in diameter are made there.

Rock crystal is also used extensively to cut into eyeglasses and spectacles in place of glass, some considering it less detrimental to the eyes than glass. It is also occasionally used for mirrors, it being superior to glass for this purpose, in that it does not detract from the rosiness of the complexion.

Among the ancients rock crystal was much more highly prized than among us, as it answered them many of the purposes for which we now find glass more suitable and cheaper. Wine glasses were made from it, though of course at great cost, a thousand dollars being considered a small price for one. Lenses of rock crystal were used to concentrate the rays of the sun for cauterizing wounds and also to light fires, especially sacrificial ones. Roman ladies were also accustomed to carry balls of rock crystal in their hands in summer for the sake of the coolness they afforded. The ladies of Japan are said to do the same at the present day.

The stone was in former times often stained different colors, and thus all sorts of imitation gems were produced. The modern method of making doublets has now superseded this art.

Amethyst. – This is the name given to the violet or purple varieties of crystallized quartz. The color has often been supposed to be due to small quantities of oxide of manganese, but is more probably the result of a content of organic matter, as the color can usually be mostly burned out by heating the stone. By partial heating the color is changed to yellow, and much so-called citrine is simply burned amethyst.

Quartz having in a general way the amethystine color is comparatively common, but for gem purposes only that transparent and of good color is available.

Important localities for gem amethysts are Southern Brazil, the Ural Mountains, Ceylon, and occasional finds in the States of Maine, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Montana in our own country.

Very commonly where crystallized quartz occurs, crystals of an amethystine hue are to be found, so that to enumerate localities of the mineral would be a considerable task. Good cut amethysts command a fair price, though they are much less valuable than formerly. Three or four dollars a carat is a fair price at the present time. At the beginning of this century Queen Charlotte of England is known to have paid $10,000 for an amethyst for which $500 could now hardly be realized. One reason for the greater esteem in which amethyst was formerly held is probably the virtue ascribed to it of shielding its wearer from the effects of drinking too much wine. Its name is derived from two Greek words, meaning “not to inebriate.” The drinking cups of the Romans were often made of it, partly for the above reason and partly on account of their belief that any poison placed in such a cup would be rendered harmless. Amethyst is the “birth stone” of the month of February, and St. Valentine is said always to have worn an amethyst.

“The February born shall find
Sincerity and peace of mind,
Freedom from passion and from care
If they an amethyst will wear.”

Rose Quartz. – This form of quartz, the color of which is indicated by its name, is rarely of sufficient transparency to be prized as a gem. Cut, however, into various ornaments, it makes objects of considerable beauty. Its luster, instead of being glassy like that of other forms of quartz, is nearly always more or less greasy. The ingredient which gives its color is not known. It is probably some organic matter, since the color disappears on heating and, unfortunately for the extended use of the stone, fades considerably on exposure to light. There are numerous localities whence rose quartz of good color may be obtained, although it is not of so common occurrence as most other varieties of quartz. The best rose quartz in this country comes from Oxford County, Maine, and the Black Hills. Foreign localities are the Urals, Brazil and Ceylon.

Smoky Quartz. – This variety of quartz is often known as “smoky topaz,” a misleading term, since the mineral is not topaz at all. As its name implies, its color is like that of smoked glass, all gradations occurring between a mere tinge to color so dark as to render the mineral practically opaque. The color often varies considerably in the same crystal, being darker and lighter in spots. The coloring matter is undoubtedly carbonaceous and organic in nature, for when a crystal is heated it gives off a smell of burning organic matter, and by heating for some length of time the coloring may be entirely burned out. At an intermediate stage in such heating the color becomes brown or yellow, and stones of this color are often cut as gems and known by the name of “Spanish topaz” or “citrine.” True citrine is, however, transparent quartz with a natural yellow color. The most remarkable crystals of smoky quartz known are some that were found in 1868 in a hollow in granite in a locality in the Canton Uri, Switzerland. About 3,000 pounds of well formed crystals were there found, the largest and best of which are preserved in the Berne Museum. They are so unique that special names have been given them. One about two and one-half feet long, and weighing nearly four hundred pounds, is known as the “Grandfather”; another, somewhat smaller, but more perfect in form, as the “King,” and two of nearly equal size, weighing about one hundred and forty pounds each, are called “Castor and Pollux.” The smaller crystals obtained from this and neighboring regions in the Alps are for the most part of great perfection of form and color. Aside from these localities in the Alps, the most remarkable crystals of smoky quartz come from the region of Pike’s Peak, in our own country. While not reaching the size of the Alpine crystals, they are often perfect in form and color, and gems to the value of thousands of dollars are annually cut from the supply there obtained. Alexander County, North Carolina, also furnishes many crystals. Smoky quartz may be called the national stone of Scotland, the name by which it is known being “Cairngorm stone,” from the locality where the best crystals are obtained.