The Birds of the Garden. 209 



nut with his bill, bathed in a dish of snow, sang four songs, not 

 strong but sweet, and whistles divinely, and when evening came, 

 his reason directed him to creep into a chosen corner under a 

 leaf, for warmth and shelter, where he hid his head under his 

 wing until morning. 



In the spring with much sorrow and sadness we decided to let 

 our Arctic bird follow his instincts and inclinations and fly away 

 with companions north if he desired to do so ; therefore the win- 

 dow was opened and liberty was his. He flew from bush to 

 tree, bathed in a little bank of snow and sang and whistled to his 

 heart's content. But when the shades of night began to gather, 

 the home feeling came over him and he flew through the window 

 to his chosen place in the bay window. Again he was given his 

 liberty; this time he lingered for a couple of days in the garden, 

 coming in and out of the house at our call. At last he sang us 

 a parting song, and then took flight into the great world. We 

 are confidently expecting his return in the winter: should he 

 come again he will be welcomed with lejoicing; but should he 

 never come again, our hearts will ever go out in gratitude to the 

 little stranger of the winter, that brought nothing but joy, grace 

 and harmony into a household. The Titmice are exclusively 

 northern birds; they range from the Arctic sea to Maryland; never 

 further south I believe. 



It has been estimated by ornithologists that not one in ten of 

 the young birds hatched come to maturity. Let us who love 

 birds be guardians of them, and do what we can to protect them. 

 If it be necessary to make laws to do so, let that be done; and if 

 heedless men and boys slaughter and bag tens of thousands of 

 Robins, as they did at the great Robin roost in Kentucky last 

 winter, bring them to an account for it, and imprison or otherwise 

 punish them, for the loss to the whole country is irreparable. Let 

 us teach the boys that to kill the birds with a sling shot, or in 

 sport, is a sin ; rather teach them to love, protect and study them, 

 and if specimens of eggs are desired, to take a part of the eggs 

 without robbing the nest. A few years ago our beautiful capitol 

 park was alive with the rarest of songsters; but now, alas ! the 

 14 — Hort. 



