EDITORIAL AND GENERAL. 



411 



servation is fully fixed worry will be 

 effectually banished. 



This is why such an organization as 

 the AA (The Agassiz Association) is 

 a eapital Don't Worry society. It has 

 no "Non't Worry" by-laws, no "Don't 

 Worry" mottoes. It says nothing 

 about worry. It gets its members busy 

 in the very natural and very agreeable 

 and all-absorbing work of taking a 

 pee]) at nature in some of her phases, 

 and watching the wheels go round. 



How much do you think a child 

 worries while, with big eyes, he sits 

 watching the wheels go round in a 



clock? You know he has no thought 

 for anything else. Fill the mind with 

 the beauties of nature, keep it full, and 

 worry will be banished. 



W'orrv is simply a habit. But you 

 can not cure it by resolves. You can 

 not cure it by calling attention to it. 

 You will worry the more, in all proba- 

 bility. Sometimes we kill out weeds 

 by planting a very strong, thrifty 

 grass. Kill out worry by planting the 

 habit of observation, and carefully 

 nurture it until it has obtained a good 

 start. — Life and Health. 



(ORRESPONDENCE 



x 



AND 



Information 



(ARE OF PRI3NJ0SES. 



26 S. Clinton St., East Orange, N. J. 

 To The Editor: — 



Will you or some of our AA friends 

 please tell me what is the best treat- 

 ment for the primrose as a house plant 

 and also what is the best book (not 

 too expensive) for a guide in the care 

 of plants in the winter? 



Yours truly, 



Sarah Root Adams. 



SOME 0001) ORIGINAL OBSERVATIONS. 



473 Madison Street, 

 Brooklyn, New York. 

 To Thk Editor: — 



I have made a special study of birds 

 for less than two years so probably 1 

 should be wiser to wait and in time 

 answer many of my own questions. 

 I asked about woodpeckers bathing and 

 drinking as I had seen scores of flick- 

 ers, many sapsuckers and a good num- 

 ber of brown creepers and downy 

 woodpeckers but had never seen any 

 of them go near the water. Recently 

 I saw a brown creeper drinking, so 

 that partially answers my own ques- 

 tion. 



I wonder if it is unusual for a her- 



mit thrush to spend the winter in 

 Prospect Park, Brooklyn. I had not 

 seen one since November 21st and 

 supposed they were all gone. Fifteen 

 days later, on December 6th, I was 

 surprised to see one, and again on 

 December gth and 10th. On the last 

 date it was nearly dark and I had 

 given up hope of seeing him when he 

 came tripping along on the thin ice 

 till he came to an opening about a 

 foot across, where he stopped to drink. 

 He then passed along to the edge of 

 the ice, stepped off into the water and 

 took a good bath. Days passed with 

 no sight of him and I feared for his 

 safety, but on December 21st he ap- 

 peared again looking in his usual good 

 health, took a thorough bath, preened 

 himself well and retired. This was 

 about noon. At three o'clock the same 

 day he showed himself again, coming 

 within ten or twelve feet of me. I 

 call this the same individual because 

 I have seen only one at a time and 

 each time in nearly the same spot. 



Here is a little matter I have been 

 puzzling over all the fall and winter. 

 In this same park (Prospect Park, 

 Brooklyn, N. Y.) is a conduit two or 

 three feet in diameter with a very 



