936 



Rural School Leaflet 



A Christmas tree for the birds 



two white wing-bars. There is a single dark spot in the middle of the 

 breast. The tree sparrow looks somewhat like the chipping sparrow, but 

 the dark spot on the breast will identify it. Then, too, we know that the 

 chipping sparrow is not one of our winter birds. Try to see a tree sparrow 

 this year and try to hear the tender little song that it sings in April before 

 it goes to its nesting place in the Far North. 



The nuthatch. — In looking for winter birds remember that the bird for 

 special study this year is the nuthatch, which is one of our common 

 winter birds. It is bluish gray in color, and in size is a little smaller 

 than the English sparrow; the top of its head is black but it differs 

 from the chickadee, its throat and entire undcrparts being white. It is 

 generally seen on the trunks or the larger branches of trees, where it 

 climbs about very differently from the woodpeckers for it is frequently 

 upside down and it never uses its tail as a support. 



You must remember that the nuthatch is one of the birds that eat 

 insects and therefore it is most important to the farmer. Men who have 

 studied the subject report that millions of injurious insects are eaten 

 by a single nuthatch in a year. Its bill is adapted to slip under rough 



