In Nesting Time
Public-domain ebook
In Nesting Time
Language: en6,259 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Animals-Wild-Birds·Essays, Letters & Speeches·Nature/Gardening/Animals
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #25292.
About this book
Olive Thorne Miller’s In Nesting Time is a natural‑history sketchbook that opens with a litany of bird names and scientific designations, followed by a series of numbered sections that promise detailed observations of individual species. The opening passage moves quickly from a catalog of crows, warblers and orioles to a lyrical vignette of a “baby bird” building its nest with moss, wood and clay, then to a reflective essay on how humans remain deaf to the dramas of avian life. From there Miller launches into a narrative that blends field notes with anecdotal storytelling, chronicling the trials of fledglings, predators, weather, clumsy first flights, and the bustling activity of parents as they feed and protect their young. The book’s structure therefore reads like a field guide interwoven with a diary of a devoted bird‑watcher, offering both taxonomic detail and vivid, moment‑by‑moment description of nest life.
The voice is that of a late‑19th‑century naturalist, earnest and observant, employing a formal yet descriptive prose style that mirrors the era’s scientific journals. Miller’s language is rich with metaphor and occasional humor, while the narrative maintains a steady, almost didactic tone. Readers who relish detailed ornithological observation, enjoy immersive sketches of rural ecosystems, or appreciate period writing that bridges scientific cataloguing and personal reflection will find this work rewarding. It appeals especially to bird‑watchers, amateur natural historians, and anyone interested in the intimate rhythms of wildlife before the modern conservation movement.
The opening · free to read
Pewee, baby ways, 15. learning to hover, 16.
Plover, 24.
Purple Crow Blackbird. in trouble, 4. launching the infants, 5. blackbird babies, 7.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 239. dress; characters, 239. manner of eating, 240. about the room, 240. a creature of habit, 240. intelligence, 241. had his own opinion, 241. change of place, 242. contented and happy, 242. a silent bird, 243. queer noises, 243. disturbed by an owl, 243. song, 244-249. the looking-glass, 244. posturing, 245. curious movements, 246. bathing, 246. color, 247. night, 248. never playful, 249.
Robin baby ways, 14, 47.
Robin called in by Cardinal, 211-214.
Scarlet Tanager and English Goldfinch, 224. dress and manners, 224. parties to the friendship, 224. dislike to confinement, 224. coming out, 225. the window glass, 226. the finch flies at him, 226. giving up the world, 227. dislike to be looked at, 227. first sign of friendship, 228. the smallest bird, 228. progress of the friendship, 228. the tanager's boundary, 229. becoming protector, 229. beginning to talk, 229. perching outside, 230. around the room, 231. in a strange cage, 231. on the floor, 231. driving the Brazilian, 232. the robin interferes, 232. the finch goes for him, 233. a new roof, 233. the mischievous robin, 234. approach of spring, 234. offensive operations, 235. anxious to go, 235. belligerent, 235. set free, 236. the deserted lover, 236. called on by cardinal, 214.
Snowy Heron, 23.
Tern, 24.
Thrasher, or Brown Thrush, 147. restlessness, 147. use of feet, 148. erratic movements, 149. way of approach, 149. sensational manners, 150. bathing, 150. waltzing around the bath, 150. excitement of the bath, 151. mischievousness, 152. teasing the finch, 152. tearing paper, 152. with a newspaper, 153. the magazines, 153. hammering, 153. jumping, 153. intelligence, 154. talking back, 154. expression of wings, 154. littleness of body, 155. the song, 155. in the twilight, 156, 247. strange movements, 156. watching others, 157. in the spring, 157.
Thrushes. gray-cheeked, 161. song of, 162. Wilson's, 162. wonderful song, 162. whisper songs, 162. difference in character, 163. bewitching dance, 163. use of feet, 164. excitement, 165. a different dance, 165. bathing, 165, 166. the bird in the glass, 166. alighting places, 167. enjoying a swing, 167. a snug retreat, 167. tearing papers, 168. lonely disposition, 169. belligerent, 169. set free, 169. surprise of freedom, 170. a call from a neighbor, 170. farewell to the Gray-cheeked, 171.
Thrush baby ways, 8, 78, 80, 85.
Yellow-throated baby ways, 8.
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