The Birds' Calendar 



— statuesque and beautiful, and indispensable 

 to lake scenery, but cold and conventional, and 

 suffering greatly, like the peacock, by the in- 

 vention of cheap prints. 



My record for March comprises the follow- 

 ing species, all but three of them in the 

 Ramble : chickadee, nuthatch, cardinal, rob- 

 in, gull, crow, shrike, white-throat, flicker, 

 downy wood-pecker, American and European 

 goldfinches, snow-bird, grackle, blue jay, red- 

 winged blackbird, song sparrow, fox sparrow, 

 crossbill, and phoebe. Those who delay their 

 gloved ac(iuaintance with Nature until May, 

 are quite oblivious that she is already so wake- 

 ful in this desolate and repellent month, and 

 giving so excellent a foretaste of the fuller tide 

 of life to follow. 



