Wisconsin School of the Air; Afield with Ranger Mac; 24

The Wisconsin School of the air invites you to go afield with a ranger Mac. Today boys and girls Ranger Mack is going to tell you what happens in the woods as spring returns. Now here he is to guide you on another radio hike down the nature trail. Hello girls and boys. This is your day. So up underway now the winter has seemed long and you know our eagerness for spring. We look for every sign of its return. The dogwood is getting ready in the marshes the willow twigs are getting golden and on the blackboards of our schools we know the names of pupils who have seen robins in the warm lands to the south of us the birds are feeling the urge within their bodies to return to the land of their birth. This is a glorious faith inspiring time of the year when the womyn kiss of the sun awakens life for another growing season. Before we have another trip a few of the some will have crossed the equator on March 20th at 10 14 in the morning. The sun's

rays will be shining directly on the equator. That's the time of the spring equinox with the coming of spring and we are approaching the end of our trail. And maybe you know a little more about the outdoors than when we started our trips last fall a little more but that's all. And that is not enough time in a man's life to learn all there is to know even about one animal. Even so common and small an animal as a mouse. About all we could do was to hope allows your interest to get too eager to get outdoors and see things as they are and maybe just study a few books to learn what other folks have learned about the outdoors and with the coming of spring. There is an interesting behavior among our creatures too which Ranger Mack wishes to call your attention.

We have a bluebird house on a telephone pole back of our home. Early every spring it is visited by a bluebird so bright didn't color that I know it to be a male bird. In general it is the male birds that return first from the southland. They may return to find suitable nesting places to take possession of a territory some want like the miners staked out their claims in the early days of our country or farmers staked out their land for their future home. Here the birds settle down and sing over their territory a boat proclaiming this to be their territory. When the females arrive they pick out the territory of a singing male of their own kind and show themselves. We don't know exactly how she picks out her

future mate. But we can guess at that he must be a robust individual and a good defender of his territory and his property and no doubt he must be of beautiful plumage of forty years already showing it off in his courtship. Maybe he meant it must be some want of a Prince Charming. Maybe he must be the possessor of a beautiful song. For it is at times of courtship and mating that bird songs are the most frequent and beautiful. We can only guess at perhaps the most commonly seen courtships are those of the Robin at the propaganda lines appear on our sunny slopes in any numbers and the robins will be carrying on their courtship. Other courtship is a noisy affair. I like that of the English sparrows. You watch for this courtship on

most any lawn this spring. You will see a cluster of robins four to six in number flying across the lawn screaming their loudest flying through the bushes in a reckless manner. It looks as though a fight were going on. It is far from it. It is a courtship. A part of a courtship that a robin carries on in the midst of this mass of feathers. There is a lone female Robin as she is enjoying the affair no doubt because many robins are making a fuss over her. Sometime during this affair as she is giving the wink to one of the maid orders she may say you touched me first so I am yours. Something like that must take place because in these noisy Robin rackets matches are made and soon

after household duties stopped. No bird excites our curiosity quite so much as that of the brilliant little jewel of feathers the hummingbird. He doesn't have a song that we can hear but he does have a miraculous flight ability and a brilliant plumage. And by showing off these he wins his meat. This bird can perch but it cannot walk with such flying ability. It does not need to walk. It can poison in mid-air before a flower are apparently motionless while taking nectar from the flowers deep cup. The next moment it rushes out of sight as though a magic wand had made it suddenly invisible. You might expect this bird to carry on its courtship largely by use of its wings so it does. I witnessed

this courtship once in my life. Probably the chance will never come to me again. Now the female Hummingbird was perched on a limb at the highly colored male carried on a performance that resembled that of the swinging of a pendulum. Forward and backward and then sidewise. He looked as though he were home in the air from an invisible card. Then he disappeared like a flash at the return on repeat the performance over again. The female seemed to be somewhat interested in the fuss that was being made over her as she looked to me as though she were judging a flying demonstration. And if it met with her approval it she would accept him as her partner for the season. It looked to me as though she were finding out whether he were capable of being that kind of a

partner capable of protecting the nest and fighting off all intruders. It seems to be a part of nature's plan to select the best specimens to be the father bird children. This is generally true of all Nature's creator creatures of all the drones in a beehive. For example only one of the strongest fly air catches the Queen in her marriage flight. Thus is the strength of the race kept up the flicker is a common bird and it is not uncommon to see the comical behavior of the males during courtship. Last spring I watched two male flickers in front of a female and they went through a series of bowings and scrapings that would have made you laugh. Other males would spread their tails puff out their chests throw back their heads all the time making a noise that

sounded like a hit cop. She looked on with little or no concern so it seemed to me but I suppose she was considering which one gave promise of being the better mate. After she grew a little tired of witnessing these antics as she flew to another limb followed by the males where the whole laughable performance was repeated. You trail hunters who live near dense woods with thick underbrush where hunting has not been carried on too heavily and might hear the drum of the rough grouse. It is his announcement of his willingness to wed at this drumming is made by beating his wings violently against the air. After the drumming he displays his hand some feathers and soldier like Bobby in a series of remarkable dances. He struts up and down the log in this manner until a

female grouse appears on the scene. If one fails to appear he repeats the performance over and over again until some fair damsel grouse comes along and chooses him for a mate. You must not think that these courting antics are confined to birds. They take place in all animal life including man. And let's look into the courtship of the common sunfish in the spring his colors stand out beautifully. He selects a place for his nest in a shallow water that has some water vegetation. But not enough the dictation to make the shade too dense for the sun must do the hatching of the eggs you know. He first makes a saucer like basin in his chosen spot and which is cleared of all pebbles and stones and sticks

at these stones and sticks. He places a boundary about his nest and when a bellow of sunfish that is a female sunfish and puts in appearance he shows off like a rough grouse does he puffs out his gill covers spreads out his pins to show their brilliant finish. He makes the scarlet spot on the ear flap stand out in a most conspicuous way. In this way he invites her to lay her eggs in his nest. He might have to fight off other sunfish which he does with his sharp fins and if he be successful the barrel sunfish will deposit her eggs in his nest and they probably to the bottom and it here there buy some substance as she secretes with the eggs. Her duty performed. She departs and leaves the home in charge

of the mail. He guards the eggs until they hatch which takes about a week. If the temperature is warm enough then he leaves the young. To take care of themselves as best they can. Now in this broadcast Ranger Mike hope to give you a foretaste of the interesting behavior of our animal friends in the spring. Just ahead things that you can see if you stop look and listen. At no other time of the year will you see anything like it. You will see the birds return dressed in their courting plumage with songs in their throats and a desire in their hearts to start household duties. You can watch their their courtship behavior in this way we can understand something of the Spirit. The emotions the impulses in the lives of our friends. The out of doors. And now before closing

an important announcement. Schools participating in the conservation corner and log book activity will be notified whether or not to send in the log book. Now this letter will reach you during the last week in March and now may the Great Spirit put sunshine in your heart today and for evermore our Heep much. The familiar Indian farewell brings us to the end of another trip afield with Ranger Mack. He'll be back again next week at the same time to be your guide for another rodeo trip down the nature trail. When we learn about the lady mosquitoes this is the Wisconsin School of the air. Force. Her duty performed she departs and leaves the

home in charge of the female never to return again. He guards the eggs until they hatch and which takes place in about a week if the temperature is warm enough. And then he leaves the young at to take care of themselves as best they can. Now in this broadcast Ranger Mack hope to give you a foretaste of the interesting behavior of our animal friends in the spring. Just ahead and you will see it if you stop look and listen. At no other time of the year will you see anything like it. You will see the birds return return dressed in their courting plumage with songs in their throats and a desire in their hearts to start household duties. You can watch their courtship behavior in this way

we can understand something of the spirit the emotions and impulses in the lives of our friends. Of the out of daughters. And before we caller's range would like to announce that the logbooks those who are to send in their log books will receive a notification from the w h a office until next week in May the Great Spirit put sunshine in your heart to day and for evermore heap much.