414 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



shoulders, the body being black and 

 white, the back mostly black. Has the 

 habits of the woodpecker tribe, but 

 keeps to the deep woods. Can you tell 

 me what it is? None of our reference 

 books in the public library mention any 

 woodpecker larger than a robin ; but 

 my husband is positive in regard to the 

 size of this species. A friend in St. 

 Johnsbury, Vermont, suggests that it 

 may be the pileated woodpecker. 



I have to report the presence in our 

 trees on February 18 of the greater red- 

 poll. I got an unusually good view of 

 one as he sang his "gleeful, canary-like 

 song," which of itself was almost suf- 

 ficient for identification. I feel quite 

 elated, inasmuch as this is a very rare 

 visitant in our locality; indeed, Miss 

 Griffin, the Director of Fairbanks Mu- 

 seum of Natural History at St. Johns- 

 bury, Vermont, says that this is their 

 first record of this bird in northern 

 Vermont. 



Cordially yours, 



Grace H. Saduer. 



Your friend is right in the identifi- 

 cation of the bird as the pileated wood- 

 pecker. The range was "formerly 

 whole wooded region of North 

 America ; now rare or extirpated in the 

 more thickly settled parts of the Eas- 

 tern States.''— Ed. 



Feeding Wild Ducks. 



There are thousands of wildfowl 

 wintering within the borders of New 

 York State. On account of the ex- 

 tremely cold weather, practically every 

 lake and stream in the middle and 

 northern part of the State has become 

 frozen over, preventing the ducks from 

 feeding. As soon as the Conservation 

 commissioners became aware of this 

 fact, protectors were ordered to pur- 

 chase grain and give their attention to 

 the feeding of the ducks. On Seneca 

 Lake in the vicinity of Geneva there 

 were estimated to be 5,000 wild ducks 

 of different species in one small open- 

 ing in the lake. As soon as the grain 

 was spread upon the ice, the wild ducks 

 fed upon it as readily as if they were 

 domesticated. The same condition ex- 



isted on Great South Bay, and on 

 Cayuga Lake in the vicinity of Cayuga, 

 where the ducks have been in the habit 

 of wintering, and the situation was met 

 in the same manner by the protectors 

 purchasing grain and feeding the ducks. 

 In many instances where it was known 

 to the commission that there was a 

 large flock of pheasants, arrangements 

 have been made with a responsible per- 

 son to see that they are fed. — Forest 

 and Stream. 



AWAKENING OF NATURE. 



By Caroline Clark Hinton, New York City. 



From out the dull gray mist 

 The dawn usurps the night; 

 While from the woods the song 

 Of birds thrill with delight. 



A thousand notes that mingle, 

 Melodies of humming bees, 

 And sudden wind that answers 

 Waking the sombre trees. 



The air is full of life, 

 Of noisy flying things, 

 Who dip to earth again, 

 And bathe in gurgling springs. 



Thus life and sound and dawn 

 Awake the world each day, 

 And tell to man, God's hand, 

 Is showing him the way! 



Harvard Observatory Completes 

 Thirty Years' Task of Photo- 

 graphing Stars. 



Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 

 24. — A photographic map of the entire 

 sky, showing about 1,500,000 stars, has 

 been prepared in sections by the Har- 

 vard University astronomers. 



According to the sixty-sixth annual 

 report of the director of the observa- 

 tory, just issued, 5,838 photographs of 

 stars were made at the observatory 

 during the year ended September 30 

 last. The total number of photographs 

 of the stars in the Harvard collection 

 exceeds 200,000, and if placed together 

 would cover nearly three acres. The 

 report says that as a result of thirty 

 years' work and the expenditure of $1,- 

 000,000 the observatory has created a 

 field of work which is not occupied 

 elsewhere in the matter of photometry, 

 photography and spectroscopy. 



