The Project Gutenberg EBook of How to tell the Birds from the Flowers and other Wood-cuts, by Robert Williams Wood This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: How to tell the Birds from the Flowers and other Wood-cuts A Revised Manual of Flornithology for Beginners Author: Robert Williams Wood Release Date: August 4, 2010 [EBook #33346] Language: English Character set encoding: ASCII *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO TELL BIRDS FROM FLOWERS *** Produced by Juliet Sutherland, David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net Front Cover How To Tell The Birds From The Flowers And Other Wood-cuts. A Revised Manual of Flornithology for Beginners. Bird and Flower Verses and Illustrations By Robert Williams Wood. Published By Duffield and Co. New York. Copyright 1917. By Duffield and Co. Copyright 1917. By Duffield and Co. Contents. The Burr. The Bird. 1. The Crow. The Crocus. 2. The Clover. The Plover. 3. Ole Gander. Oleander. 4. The Hen. The Lichen. 5. The Pelican. The Panicle. 6. The Pea. The Pewee. 7. The Parrot. The Carrot. 8. The Rue. The Rooster. 9. The Hawk. The Hollyhock. 10. The Pecan. The Toucan. 11. The Cat-bird. The Cat-nip. 12. The Quail. The Kale. 13. The Auk. The Orchid. 14. The Cow Bird. The Cowslip. 15. The Butter-ball. The Butter-cup. 16. The Roc. The Shamrock. 17. [pg i] [pg ii] A Sparrer. Asparagus. 18. The Blue Mountain Lory. 19. The Blue Morning Glory. 19. The Tern. The Turnip. 20. The Larks. The Larkspur. 22. Cross Bill. Sweet William. 23. The Ibis. The 'Ibiscus. 24. The Pipe. The Snipe. 25. The Jay. The Bay. 26. The Gent-ian. The Lady-bird. 27. Puffin. Nuffin. 28. Bee. Beet. Beetle. 29. The Bunny. The Tunny. 30. The Puss. The Octopus. 31. The Eel. The Eelephant. 32. The Ant. The Pheasant. 33. The Hare. The Harrier. 34. The Pen-guin. The Sword-fish. 35. The Gnu. The Newt. 36. The Ray. The Raven. 38. The Ape. The Grape. 40. The Doe. The Dodo. 41. The Pipe-fish. The Sea-gar. 42. The Elk. The Whelk. 43. The P-Cock. The Q-Cumber. 44. The Sloe. The Sloth. 45. The Cow. The Cowry. 46. The Antelope. The Cantelope. 47. The Pansy. The Chim-pansy. 48. Naught. Nautilus. 49. Intro-duc-tion. Intro-duc-tion. By other Nature books I'm sure, You've often been misled, You've tried a wall-flower to secure. And "picked a hen" instead: You've wondered what the egg-plants lay, And why the chestnut's burred, And if the hop-vine hops away, It's perfectly absurd. I hence submit for your inspection, This very new and choice collection, Of flowers on Storks, and Phlox of birds, With some explanatory words. Not every one is always able To recognize a vegetable, For some are guided by tradition, While others use their intuition, [pg iii] [pg iv] [pg v] And even I make no pretense Of having more than common sense. Indeed these strange homologies Are in most flornithologies, And I have freely drawn upon The works of Gray and Audubon, Avoiding though the frequent blunders Of those who study Nature's wonders. Stork and Phlox Burr. Bird. Burr. Bird. Who is there who has never heard, About the Burdock and the Bird? And yet how very very few, Discriminate between the two, While even Mr. Burbank can't, Transform a Bird into a Plant. Burbank. The Crow. The Crocus. [pg vi] [pg 1] The Crow. The Crocus. Some are unable, as you know, To tell the Crocus from the Crow; The reason why is just be-caws They are not versed in Nature's laws. The noisy cawing Crows all come, Obedient to the Cro'custom, A large Crow Caw-cus to convoke. You never hear the Crocus croak! The Clover. The Plover. The Clover. The Plover. The Plover and the Clover can be told apart with ease, By paying close attention to the habits of the Bees, For En-to-molo-gists aver, the Bee can be in Clover, While Ety-molo-gists concur, there is no B in Plover. The Ole Gander. The Oleander. [pg 2] [pg 3] The Ole Gander. The Oleander. The Gander loves to promenade, Around the farmer's poultry yard, While as we see, the Oleander Is quite unable to meander: The Gardener tied it up indeed, Fearing that it might run to seed. The Hen. The Lichen. The Hen. The Lichen. Lichens, regardless of conventions, Exist in only two dimensions, A life restricted to a plane, On rocks and stones a greenish stain, They live upon the simplest fare, A drop of dew, a breath of air. Contrast them with the greedy Hen, And her most careless regimen, She shuns the barren stones and rocks, And thrives upon the garbage box. The Pelican. The Panicle. [pg 4] [pg 5] The Pelican. The Panicle. The Panicle and Pelican have often been confused, The letters which spell Pelican, in Panicle are used. If you recognize this Anagram you'll never go astray, Or make the careless blunder that was made by Mr. Gray. The Pea. The Pewee. The Pea. The Pewee. To tell the Pewee from the Pea, Requires great per-spi-ca-city. Here in the pod we see the Pea, While perched close by is the Pewee; The Pea he hears the Pewee peep, While Pewee sees the wee Pea weep, There'll be but little time to see, How Pewee differs from the Pea. The Parrot. The Carrot. [pg 6] [pg 7] The Parrot. The Carrot. The Parrot and the Carrot one may easily confound, They're very much alike in looks and similar in sound, We recognize the Parrot by his clear articulation, For Carrots are unable to engage in conversation. The Rue. The Rooster. The Rue. The Rooster. When you awake at half-past-two, And hear a "Cock-a-doodle-doo," No argument need then ensue, It is the Rooster, not the Rue, Which never thus disturbs our dreams, With ruthless rude nocturnal screams. We sleep less soundly than we used ter And love the Rue but rue the Rooster. The Hawk. The Hollyhock. [pg 8] [pg 9] The Hawk. The Hollyhock. To recognize this bird-of-prey, The broody hen you should survey: She takes her chicks on daily walks, Among the neighboring Hollyhocks, While with the Hawk association, Is quite beyond her toleration. The Pecan. The Toucan. The Pecan. The Toucan. Very few can Tell the Toucan From the Pecan— Here's a new plan: To take the Toucan from the tree, Requires im-mense a-gil-i-tee, While anyone can pick with ease The Pecans from the Pecan trees. It's such an easy thing to do, That even the Toucan he can too. The Cat-bird. The Cat-nip. [pg 10] [pg 11] The Cat-bird. The Cat-nip. The Cat-bird's call resembles that Emitted by the Pussy Cat, While Cat-nip growing by the wall, Is never known to caterwaul: It's odor though attracts the Kits, And throws them in Cat-nip-tion fits. (cat rolling in catnip) The Quail. The Kale. The Quail. The Kale. The California Quail is said To have a tail upon his head, While contrary-wise we style the Kale, A cabbage-head upon a tail. It is not hard to tell the two, The Quail commences with a queue. The Auk. The Orchid. The Auk. The Orchid. [pg 12] [pg 13] We seldom meet, when out to walk, Either the Orchid or the Auk. The awk-ward Auk is only known To dwellers in the Auk-tic zone, While Orchids can be found in legions, Within the equatorial regions. So if by chance you travel on The Lena or the Am-a-zon, Be certain of the tem-pera-ture Or you will make mistakes I'm sure. The Cow Bird. The Cowslip. The Cow Bird. The Cowslip. Although the Cow'slips on this plant, Suggest perhaps a ru-min-ant, One never sees the opening bud, Devour the grass or chew its cud. The Cowbird picture, I suspect, Is absolutely incorrect; We make such errors now and then, A sort of cow slip of the pen. The Butter-ball. The Butter-cup. The Butter-ball. The Butter-cup. The little Butter-cup can sing, From morn 'till night like anything. The quacking of the Butter-ball, Cannot be called a song at all. We thus the flower may learn to know, Its song is reproduced below. [pg 14] [pg 15] (Music notation: song of the Butter-cup) [Hear this melody as midi.] The Roc. The Shamrock. The Roc. The Shamrock. Although I never took much stock, In Sinbad's yarn about the Roc, And really must confess I am Inclined to think the Roc a sham: Take notice that, the Sham-rock may Be seen upon St. Patrick's day. A Sparrer. Asparagus. A Sparrer. Asparagus. Of the fall of the Sparrow we often have heard, And I've here represented the fall of the bird: In the case of Asparagus though, I may mention, A fall such as this, is quite out of the question: For observe that Asparagus, fat and well fed, Spends all of his time in the 'sparagus bed. The Blue Mountain Lory. The Blue Morning Glory. [pg 16] [pg 17] [pg 18] The Blue Mountain Lory. The Blue Morning Glory. The Insects, to avoid surprise By Birds, sometimes themselves disguise As leaves and twigs, and thus escape The appetizing Insect's fate. Observe how cleverly this Vine Has forced its leaves and flowers to twine Themselves into a Bird design. And how it's artful turns and twists, Hides it from zealous Botanists. The Tern. The Turnip. The Tern. The Turnip. To tell the Turnip from the Tern, A thing which everyone should learn, Observe the Tern up in the air, See how he turns, and now compare Him with this in-ert veg-et-able, Who thus to turn is quite unable, For he is rooted to the spot, While as we see, the Tern is not: He is not always doomed to be Thus bound to earth e-tern-ally For "cooked to a tern" may be inferred, To change the Turnip to a bird. [pg 19] [pg 20] (tern looking at a boiling pot) Observe the Turnip in the Pot. The Tern is glad that he is not! The Larks. The Larkspur. The Larks. The Larkspur. You must not make ad-verse remarks, About my drawing of the Larks. For, by the minor poet's lore The Larks—per-pet-ually soar. While Larkspurs, bordering garden walks, Are perched securely on their stalks. Cross Bill. Sweet William. Cross Bill. Sweet William. Nobody but an imbecile Mistakes Sweet William for Cross Bill: And even I can scarcely claim, The skill to make them look the same. Some other shrubs and vines and trees, [pg 21] [pg 22] Express emotion much like these, You've seen the mad-wort plant I guess, And weeping willows and sigh-press, The passion-flower, at it's climax, The glad-iolus and the smile-ax. The Ibis. The 'Ibiscus. The Ibis. The 'Ibiscus. The sacred Ibis, one might say, Was classified a "Bird-of-Pray" His body, after death, was dried, Embalmed in pitch, and mummyfied, And thus was handed down to us In some old King's sarcophagus. The Mallow, growing in the bogs, ('Ibiscus termed by pedagogues) Is much opposed to dessication, And bears no marks of veneration. The Pipe. The Snipe. The Pipe. The Snipe. Observe the hybrid Indian Pipe, Likewise the high-bred English Snipe, Who is distinguished, as we see, By his superior pedigree. [pg 23] [pg 24]