ment house. Put one of them into a bottle, close it with cotton instead 

 of a cork, and I think that the tenants will come out some day. 



Every Junior Naturalist is probably familiar with " oak apples." 

 Tell me how they look inside. There is a small gall found on oak 

 trees which has very thick walls. It is called a bullet gall. Find 

 out whether the master is at home in this well-fortilied dwelling. 



WITCH-HAZEL 



How many members of the club ever tried to have a real friendly 

 feeling for a tree ? Have you been interested in its appearance, its 

 life story, its surroundings ? Have you noticed the changes in it as 

 the days go by ? If not. I wish that you would make one such 

 friend this year and write to Uncle John about it. Any tree that you 

 select will interest him. He will know some member of its familv. 



Recently I have become acquainted with a little witch-hazel tree 

 whicli stands on the edge of a wood. It is very different in its 

 habits frotn the trees about it. They liave blossomed and borne 

 fruit and are now prepared for a long rest during the cold weather. 

 Not so the witch-hazel. For many weeks I have been watching its 

 tiny buds open into pale yellow blossoms. Think of flowers ventur- 

 ing out in the cold autumn days! The first one appeared the 30th 

 day of September. Now I am wondering when I shall see the last 

 of the slender crinkled petals. 



Perhaps the most wonderful thing about witch-hazel is the way 

 it shoots its seeds out of pods. This is done in a most mysterious 

 way, making one think that the little tree is a veritable wood-witch. 

 A passer-by might easily be alarmed if he feels that some one is 

 throwing stones at him, yet no one is to be seen in the woods. The 

 seeds are formed from last year's flowers ? Can you tell me how many 

 there are in each pod ? 



NOTE-BOOKS. 



We wish that the members of the club would have note-books 



and keep records of their observations. All naturalists do this. 



Here is a letter from a little girl who found out last year that it is a 



2:ood thino^ to do : 



443 



