The American Boy's Handy Book

by Daniel Carter Beard

  Provisions.

  It is always desirable to take as large a stock of provisions as can be conveniently transported. In these days of canned meats, soups, vegetables, and fruits, a large amount of provisions may be stored in a small space. Do not fail to take a plentiful supply of salt, pepper, and sugar; also bacon, flour, meal, grits, or hominy, tea, coffee, and condensed milk. If you have any sort of luck with your rod, gun, or traps, the forest and stream ought to supply fresh meat, and with the appetite only enjoyed by people who live out doors you can “live like a king.”

  Shelter.

  Because I have described but one sort of shelter my readers must not suppose that it is absolutely necessary to build a cottage like the one described. On the contrary, there are a thousand different plans that will suggest themselves to fellows who are accustomed to camping out. The huts, or sheds, built of “slabs” by some of the Adirondack hunters are very convenient, but unless the open ends are protected, in time of a storm, the rain is apt to drive in and soak the inmates. The two sheds face each other, and in the middle of the space between the camp-fire blazes, throwing a ruddy light at night into both compartments.

  By taking advantage of a rock, a fallen or uprooted tree, the work of building a hut is ofttimes materially lessened.

  Tents, of course, are very handy and comfortable, and if obtainable should by all means be used. At least one or two good sharp hatchets should form a part of the equipment of every camp; it is astonishing, with their aid and a little practice, what a comfortable house may be built in a very short time.

  Choosing Companions.

  Never join a camping party that has among its members a single peevish, irritable, or selfish person, or a “shirk.” Although the company of such a boy may be only slightly annoying at school or upon the play-ground, in camp the companionship of a fellow of this description becomes unbearable. Even if the game fill the woods and the waters are alive with fish, an irritable or selfish companion will spoil all the fun and take the sunshine out of the brightest day. The whole party should be composed of fellows who are willing to take things as they come and make the best of everything. With such companions there is no such thing as “bad luck;” rain or shine everything is always jolly, and when you return from the woods, strengthened in mind and body, you will always remember with pleasure your camping experience.

  Footnotes

  * Iron-weed; flat-top (Vernonia noveboracensis); a common Kentucky weed, with beautiful purple blossoms.

  CHAPTER XVII.

  BIRD SINGERS, ETC.

  VERY many amusing contrivances can be made of the most simple materials. I have seen boys pluck a blade of grass, and, by simply stretching it edgewise between their thumbs, make a musical instrument with which they could imitate the notes of a singing bird so closely as to perfectly deceive persons not in the secret. After placing the blade of grass, as shown by the illustration, put your lips to your thumbs at the hollow between the joints and blow. The result will be a shrill noise which, with very little practice, can be made to resemble the notes of different wild birds.

  The Block Bird Singer.

  The illustration (Fig. 118) shows an instrument made upon the same principle as the “bird singer” just described. The “block bird singer” consists of two blocks of pine small enough to fit between the front teeth of the operator. The blocks are hollowed out in the middle, as shown by A, Fig. 118.

  Stretch a blade of grass across the hollow of one of the blocks and place the other block on top of it, as shown by B, Fig. 118. Place the blocks between your teeth, and by drawing in and expelling your breath you can produce a series of shrill noises which, with practice, may be made to imitate the notes of a singing bird. A thin strip of writing-paper may be substituted for the blade of grass where the latter is hard to procure.

  The Corn-stalk Fiddle.

  The writing of the above title has sent me back to my boyhood with one great leap over the intervening years. In imagination I am again a barefooted youngster, with straw hat, short pants, and checked apron. Again I can experience the feeling of pride and importance as from my pocket comes the well-remembered jackknife, with a great shining blade that opens, like any man’s knife, with a snap! If I were this moment placed in a particular barn-yard in company with my reader, I could take him to the exact spot where a pile of corn-stalks used always to be heaped up in the corner of the fence. Let us suppose we are there. Select a good straight corn-stalk, and with the “shiny” blade of the jack-knife cut four slits from joint to joint, as shown by the top diagram, Fig. 119. Now out of that chip at your feet make a wooden bridge like the one shown by A, Fig. 119. With the point of the jack-knife lift up the three strings of the fiddle and slide the bridge under them edgewise; then gently, but firmly, raise it to an upright position and spread the strings apart, allowing them to fit into the notches cut for the purpose in the bridge (see lower diagram, Fig. 119). Make the bow of a smaller cornstalk than that used for the fiddle. No tune can be played upon this instrument, but a funny squeaking noise can be produced.

  The squeak of the corn-stalk fiddle brings to my mind another rustic instrument.

  The Pumpkin-vine Fife.

  Cut a good thick, straight pumpkin-stem and make holes in it like those in a fife. If you know how to blow on a fife you may not only produce a noise with the pumpkin-stem, but a tune may be played upon this simple instrument which, even if only partially successful, will amuse your hearers to that degree that you will feel yourself amply repaid for the trouble.

  A Pumpkin-vine Flute.

  Cut off a long leaf-stem like the one shown in the illustration (Fig. 120). With the blade of your knife make a slit (A, B) through both sides of the stem. Then at the base of the leaf, in the solid part just beyond the end of the hollow in the stem, cut off the stem at C, D. By putting this end in the mouth and blowing, a noise will be produced, deep and sonorous, sounding like a distant steam-boat’s whistle. Holes may be cut for the fingers similar to those just described for the fife.

  If one stem fails to work, cut another and try it until you succeed. The pumpkin-vine flute, like the corn-stalk fiddle, will amuse small boys, but if my reader does not belong to that class he may make of a piece of fishing-cane a first-rate fife.

  Cane Fife.

  The fishing-pole being much harder material than the succulent pumpkin-vine stem, is proportionally more difficult to cut. If you can, borrow a real fife; select a piece of cane of about the same size, and cut the holes in one side of the cane, at the same distance apart as those in the real fife. Any hollow stick of the proper size will answer as a substitute for the piece of fishing-pole.

  The Voice Disguiser

  is made of a piece of corn-stalk about three inches long. After removing the pith cut a notch near each end, as shown in the illustration, upon opposite sides of the corn-stalk; upon the ends stretch a piece of fish-bladder, or any thin membrane; a piece of thin tracing-paper will answer. With a large pin make a hole in each piece of membrane, as shown at A in the illustration. Now cover the notch, cut into the corn-stalk, with your mouth and laugh; the noise you produce will set you laughing in earnest. By placing your mouth over either of the notches and talking or singing, the voice is so changed as to be perfectly disguised, and if you sing a song through this instrument it sounds like some one playing on a comb covered with paper. The voice disguiser is very handy in Punch and Judy or puppet shows.

  The Locust Singer.

  This little instrument, simple as it is, is calculated to afford considerable amusement.

  With one of these toys can be made not only a loud noise, which in itself pleases most boys, but it reproduces exactly the sound of the cicada, or “locust,” as the harvest-fly is commonly but improperly called. The “locust singer,” as may be seen by reference to the illustration, consists of a horse-hair with a loop at one end and a weight attached to the other end. A pine stick, with a groove cut around it near the top, is thrust through the loop of horse-hai
r, and the groove in the stick thickly covered with powdered rosin.

  When the weight is swung rapidly around, the horse-hair, in sliding over the rosined stick, produces a noise which closely resembles the well-known song of the harvest-fly. If a tin pillbox is used for a weight and the hair run through a hole in the lid and fastened by a knot upon the inside, the lid of the box acts as a sort of sounding-board. A piece of parchment or paper is sometimes pasted over the box tightly, like a drum-head, and the hair attached to this; but a little stone wrapped in a piece of cloth answers every purpose.

  A piece of kid, from a discarded glove, tied tightly over the top of a bottle-head, makes a loud-voiced locust singer. The head of the bottle may easily be removed, by striking repeated blows with a case-knife on the neck of the bottle, at the desired point of separation.

  The Hummer.

  This is somewhat similar to the toy just described, but even more simple in construction. It consists of a piece of shingle about an inch and one-half wide and five or six inches long, with a string attached to one end. When the hummer is swung around the head it makes a loud, buzzing noise.

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  BIRD NESTING.

  How to Collect and Preserve Eggs.

  AS REGULAR as the seasons, is the flight of our feathered summer visitors; and their wonderful little nests can be found, by those who choose to look for them, in all manner of situations—in the grass, in the shrubs, in the trees, on the barren moor, on the face of the rocky cliff, in the sand banks, high up in the church steeple, under the low, overhanging eaves of the farm-house or among the rafters of the hay-loft. Even the very chimneys of the dwellings are invaded by birds in search of a safe retreat where they can rear their little families undisturbed. Professor Rennie, in speaking of the apparent mechanical knowledge displayed by birds in the construction of their nests, says: “This work is the business of their lives—the duty which calls forth that wonderful ingenuity which no experience can teach and which no human skill can rival. The infinite variety of modes in which nests of birds are constructed, and the exquisite adaptation of the nests to the peculiar habits of the individual, offer a subject of almost exhaustless interest.” I trust not one of my readers belong to that class of boys who wantonly destroy and pillage birds’ nests, for which offence against good taste and good sense it is hard to find language strong enough to use in condemnation. Nor is it proper to start a collection of birds’ eggs as the fancy seizes you, to amuse yourself for a time, afterward allowing the eggs to become broken and forgotten. If you really wish to make a collection of eggs for the purpose of study, there is no harm in taking a few nests and eggs for your cabinet. There are clauses in the game laws of most, if not all, of the States, which grant exceptional privileges to collectors for scientific purposes.

  Eggs should be “blown,” or emptied of their contents, as soon as collected, the empty shells being much less liable to break than the unblown egg. To blow eggs you should have an egg-drill and blow-pipe, but if such instruments are out of your reach a pin will answer for a drill and your lips for the blow-pipe. Make a very small hole in each end of the egg, and taking it gently between the thumb and forefinger, place one hole to the lips; then blow, not too hard, but steadily, until the contents come out of the hole at the other end.

  The use of the blow-pipe and drill not only simplifies the operation and lessens the chances of breaking the eggs, but it also makes much neater specimens. Hold the egg firmly, but gently, with its ends between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand. Apply the point of the drill to the middle of one side, and, by imparting a twirling motion to the instrument, drill a hole in the egg-shell, filing away the shell gradually until the opening is large enough to admit the end of the blow-pipe, which should fit in the hole loosely, so that when the egg is “blown” the contents of the shell may escape around the end of the pipe. Hold the egg in the left hand, with the hole down-ward; insert the small end of the blow-pipe into the hole just drilled. It is often a good plan to force water into the shell through the blow-pipe, and after all the contents have been ejected to thoroughly rinse out the shell.

  The drying is an important part of the proceeding; for this purpose the egg is usually placed in sand, bran or meal. Some authorities claim that this is wrong, as the substances are apt to cake around the hole, where they become damp from the moisture absorbed. I have often found it difficult to remove the caked meal without injuring the shell. A recent writer suggests setting the eggs, hole downward, upon a piece of blotting-paper or a soft cloth. The paper or cloth not only absorbs the moisture without sticking to the shell, but, being soft and yielding, the eggs may be rolled about with no fear of breaking, and they may be dried in this manner thoroughly, without rubbing off the color or destroying the “bloom” peculiar to nicely preserved specimens.

  A cabinet of eggs is not only an interesting object, but if the owner has collected them himself, he must necessarily acquire an amount of scientific knowledge that will not only at once make him an authority upon ornithology, even among learned men, but at the same time put him ahead of all the boys in wood-craft.

  Eggs may be kept in boxes filled with bran or cotton, or they may be gummed on cards and the name of the bird and date of the collection written underneath; but probably the best way is to keep them in a chest of shallow drawers made for the purpose.

  As soon as an egg is collected, number it with a lead pencil, and under a duplicate figure in a note-book write the number of eggs that were in the nest, the date of the collection, name or supposed name of the bird, with any and all other remarks of interest.

  Birds’ Nests.

  A collection of nests makes an ornamental and interesting addition to a cabinet, and some very curious nests may be found. The two-story nest of the summer yellowbird is always an addition, especially if both compartments contain eggs.

  The summer yellowbirds, though confiding little creatures, are not readily duped or imposed upon. Their instinct is sufficiently near reason for them to detect the difference between their own little fragile, prettily marked, greenish-colored eggs and the great dark colored ones the vagabond cow blackbird has surreptitiously smuggled into the cosey nest. The domestic little couple cling to the spot selected for their house and will not leave it; neither will they hatch the obnoxious eggs, which they are apparently unable to throw out; but the difficulty is soon surmounted, and so are the gratuitous eggs, for the yellowbirds proceed at once to cover up the cow blackbird’s eggs, constructing a new nest on top of the old one, building a second story to their house.

  Last summer Mr. Lang Gibson brought me one of these two-story nests which he found at Flushing, L. I.; the lower nest contained two cow blackbird’s eggs, and the upper one three eggs of the summer yellowbird. Gibson watched the construction of the nest. Visiting it again after it was finished, he discovered the egg of a cow blackbird. Next day two of these eggs occupied the nest. Some time afterward, to his surprise, he found the nest contained three eggs of the yellowbird and no signs of the existence of those deposited by the blackbird, but the nest had the appearance of being much taller than at first, and an examination disclosed it to be a two-story nest, the lower compartment containing two cow-birds’ eggs, and the upper part three yellowbirds’ eggs. Since writing the above, the same young collector presented me with another double nest. This time both nests were inhabited and contained eggs; the lower story is a meadow wren’s nest with an entrance on one side, and the upper one is the nest of the red-winged or swamp blackbird. The eggs in both compartments were warm when discovered, which proves that they were fresh and that the old birds had not long been absent.

  Preserving Nests.

  Nests made of woollen fibres must be dusted with fine tobacco, snuff, or camphor, to keep the moths out. Nests made of sticks, straws, etc., will not be attacked by insects, and need no preparation to preserve them.

  CHAPTER XIX.

  HOW TO REAR WILD BIRDS.

  Robins, Thrushes,
Wrens, and other Small Birds.

  Learn the habits of any creature, and give it a chance to follow them, and you will find but little difficulty in keeping it healthy in confinement.

  It is a mistake to suppose that it is a sin to keep wild birds in confinement; for when their wants are understood and attended to with any degree of care, the little creatures soon learn to love their cage, and will, more than likely, return to it of their own free will, if by accident or design they are set at liberty. When you hear it said that it is impossible to domesticate this or that bird, remember that the staid old barn-yard fowl is descended from a bird as wild and shy as any that inhabits the far Western forests. You need not hesitate to attempt to rear and tame any bird that runs or flies, provided that you are thoroughly acquainted with its habits when in a wild state.

  Care should be taken to observe the food with which the parent birds feed their young, and if the natural food is difficult to obtain, a healthy substitute can often be discovered by experiment. Do not try, however, to force a young bird to eat that which appears distasteful to it, nor must it be forced to eat when not hungry. The feathered babies, as a rule, are very greedy, and will open wide their mouths as soon as they hear any one approach, so that it is only necessary to drop the food between the widespread bills as often as they are opened.

  Squabs.

  Doves and pigeons, when young, do not open their mouths like other birds, but they will keep their bills firmly closed and run them between your fingers, flapping their wings and making a whistling noise.