Slim, lithe, elegant, dainty, the catbird, as he runs lightly over the lawn or hunts among the shrubbery, appears to be a fine gentleman among his kind—a sort of Beau Brummel in smooth, gray feathers who has preened and prinked until his toilet is quite faultless.
Perhaps you have seen a sand bank somewhere, probably near a river or pond, where the side of the bank was filled with holes as if a small cannon had been trained against it as a target.
It was on a cold January day in Central Park, New York, that I first met a cardinal and was warmed by the sight.
It is not until he calls out his name, Chebec! Chebec! in clear and business-like tones from some tree-top that you could identify this fluffy flycatcher, scarcely more than five inches long, whose dusky coat and light vest offer no helpful markings.
GREAT BLUE HERON - Birds for Kids - excerpt from the book "Birds Every Child Should Know" by Neltje Blanchan
What child is there who does not know the mockingbird, caged or free?
Probably this is the most abundant swallow that we have; certainly countless numbers assemble every year in the Long Island and Jersey marshes,
Such a rollicking, jolly singer is the bobolink! On a May morning, when buttercups spangle the fresh grasses in the meadows, he rises from their midst into the air with the merriest frolic of a song you ever heard.
A queer, shadowy bird, that sleeps all day in the dense wood and flies about through open country after dark as softly as an owl, would be difficult for any child to know were it not for the weird, snappy triplets of notes that tell his name. Every one knows him far better by sound than by sight.
BLACK-CROWNED NIGHT HERON - Birds for Kids - excerpt from the book "Birds Every Child Should Know" by Neltje Blanchan
Rather than live where the skies are gray and the air is cold, this adventurous little warbler will travel two thousand miles or more to follow the sun.
This is most children's favourite bird: is it yours?
This contemptible bird every child should know if for no better reason than to despise it.
Did you ever hear a rushing, whirring, booming sound as though wind were blowing across the bung-hole of an empty barrel?
AMERICAN BITTERN, Stake-driver, Booming Bittern, Indian Hen - Birds for Kids - excerpt from the book "Birds Every Child Should Know" by Neltje Blanchan
"Teacher—Teacher—TEACHER—TEACHER—TEACHER!" resounds a penetrating, accented voice from the woods.
Where rails thread their way among the rushes, and red-winged blackbirds, marsh wrens, and Maryland yellow-throats like to live, there listen for the tweet-tweet-tweet of the swamp sparrow.
When you are looking for the first pussy willows in the frozen marshes, or listening to the peeping of young frogs some day in early spring,
There are some children, and grown-ups, too, who persist in calling this bird the chimney swallow, although it is not even remotely related to the swallow family, and its life history, as well as its anatomy, are quite different from a swallow's, as you shall see.
CANADA GOOSE - Birds for Kids - excerpt from the book "Birds Every Child Should Know" by Neltje Blanchan