1530 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



crows had held a breakfast party, digging down for the 

 corn cobs which they had stripped of nearly every kernel 

 earlier in the season. A delicate tracery on the snow 

 beneath a patch of ragweed showed where some small 

 birds had been feeding and the position of the tracks one 







^^!l^'^^if■i^ 



-/ 



\ "-y ^-^ 



A PHEASANT PASSED 



The front toes are set at a wide angle and the imprint of the hind 

 toe is a mere dot. The tracks are clean cut and the toes do not 

 drag. 



behind the other and the marks of a long hind toenail 

 proclaimed that a flock of horned larks had paused to 

 feed there. 



Along the edge of the field a row of large angular 

 tracks announced that a much larger bird had gone by. 

 The three front toes were set at a wide angle and the 

 imprint of the hind toe was a mere dot. The tracks 

 were clean cut and the toes did not drag so we knew that 

 a pheasant had passed that way. We followed his trail 

 through a clump of weeds and then down a little gully 

 through some burdocks where he had apparently stopped 

 for a few moments to feed. Then he continued his 



course to a patch of deadly nightshade whose red berries 

 with their belladonna held no fears for him, for we 

 could see where he had jumped after some of the berries 

 that were just out of reach. He apparently had had a 

 good meal, for his tracks then led off into a tangle of 

 sedges where he jumped up almost from under our 

 feet and got away with a great crackling and whistling 

 of wings. 



\early every sheltered spot held some surprise for us 

 that morning for the happenings of the previous night 

 were plainly written in the snow diary. It mattered 

 not that wc had actually seen only a few of the little 

 creatures for we could easily imagine them present and 

 could reconstruct their lives from the records which 



THE HO.ME OF THE MUSKRAT IN THE MARSH 



.■Mong the creek the muskrats live in burrows but where material is 

 available they build these beaver-like houses. 



they had left. We had seen only a few birds and only 

 three animals but we returned home with the feeling 

 that the woods and fields were teeming with life and 

 that after all a walk at Christmas time could be just as 

 full of interest as one at any other season of the year. 



THE ANNUAL MEETING 



The annual meeting of the American Forestry Association will be held at 2 P. M., 

 Tuesday, January 13, 1920, in the Assembly Room of the Merchants' Association, Wool- 

 worth Building, 233 Broadway, New York City. 



There will be no forestry program. The meeting will be confined to business matters 

 and the election of officers. 



Later in the year the directors will decide upon the advisability of holding a national 

 forestry conference for the discussion of forestry problems. 



