3^2 



Junior Naturalist Monthly. 



that some birds eat. Not long ago I saw a number of old cattails on which 

 some birds had been feeding. You know that earlier in the year the seeds 

 of the cattail are in a compact head or pressed closely together. When a 

 little bird comes along and wants something to eat, he pecks at this part 

 of the old cattail stalk. In this way he loosens the seeds which gives them 

 an opportunity to blow away ; so the little bird is doing two things : he is 

 getting something to eat, and at the same time is helping the seeds to get 

 away from the parent plant. I wish you would notice how many stalks 

 of plants with seeds you can find. Take some of them into the school- 

 room : a teasel head, some of the golden-rod stalk, an 

 aster, a little branch of bittersweet with the red berries 

 on it, and you will have something attractive to put on 

 the teacher's desk, a winter bouquet. Look closely at 

 the part of the plant that you think the birds might 

 care to eat. 



When you find one out-of-doors 

 observe closely the seeds of the cat- 

 tail head which the birds have loosened. 

 Do they look as if they might be in 

 good condition to grow? Of w'hat value is 

 it to a farmer to have birds eat the seeds of 

 weeds ? 



ANSWER TO WEED PUZZLE IN 

 OCTOBER LEAFLET 



Fig. 2. No. 



