356 JuxiOR S'aturalist Mokthly. 



SOME AUTUMX AND WINTER BERRIES 



How many hoys, and girls know barberry? It is often used as an 

 ornamental shrub in the garden. One can make use of the berries for 

 table decoration at Thanksgiving and Giristmas time. Then. too. it 

 furnishes food for winter birds. It may be that you will find barberry 

 growing near your home, and, if so, I wish you would help mother make 

 tlie table attractive with it for the Thanksgiving dinner. You need not 

 gather a great deal because you want to leave some of it out-of-doors to 

 look pretty and some for the birds. A small spray of the berries by the 

 side of each plate and a few larger spra3's in the center of the table will 

 be sufficient. Perhaps }^ou might WTite some prett}^ bit of poetry or prose 

 of three or four lines on a, white card, and lay the piece of barberry on 

 the card beside the plate. If you do this, I wish you would let me know 

 whether 3-ou are successful in making 30ur table attractive and also what 

 poetr}' 3'ou use. I think that your parents and the Thanksgiving guests 

 would probabl}- enjoy lines relating to the out-of-doors. 



If you cannot find barberry, you may be able to secure some of the 

 false or climbing bittersweet. The false bittersweet has the crimson and 

 orange fruit. Many persons speak of this as the bittersweet, a name that 

 is more often given to the nightshade. The common bittersweet or night- 

 shade is ver>' attractive out-of-doors but it does not make such a pretty 

 table decoration as the false bittersweet. 



FEATHERS 



James E. Rice 



" Why do hens have feathers ? " That is a good question. Who can 

 answer it? "To keep them comfortable?"' Yes, during the winter, but 

 how about tlie summer? Do the feathers then keep the birds warm or 

 cool? Watch hens on a hot day and notice how the}- raise their wing? 

 and loosen up their feathers. Look in an encyclopedia and find out 

 whether feathers are good non-conductors of heat. How warm we sleep 

 in a feather bed! But who has another reason why hens have feathers? 

 " To protect their bodies from the sun, the heat and the rain ? '* Good I 

 but there are other reasons. How about protection against injur)' and 

 wet? Does it hurt your hands with gloves on as it does with bare hands 

 to catch a hard ball? Feathers form a splendid armor plate. Each 

 feather is a little shield. They are lapped over one another like shingles 

 on a roof, so that they are several feathers deep on all parts of the body. 



