THE BIKD-LIFE OF A YEAR. 13 



to the ^veatlier. Where seed-bearing weeds are 

 accessible, there we may look for Juncos and Tree 

 Sparrows ; a cedar-tree tilled with berries often 

 tempts Kobins, Bluebirds, and Waxwings to Avin- 

 ter near it. I recall a sheltered pile of buckwheat 

 chaff at Eng-lewood, X. J., which furnished food 

 for a small flock of Mourning Doves all one winter. 

 In Central Park, Xew York city, a Mockingljird, 

 who had evidently escaped from a cage, fed u]:)on 

 the berries of a privet tree, and survived in apparent 

 comfort the most severe winter weather. Food, 

 therefore, rather than temperature, is the all im- 

 portant factor in a bird's life at this season. 



BIRDS OP THE MONTH. 



Permanent Residents (see page 6). 



Winter Visitants (see page 7). 



February. 



The conditions prevailing in the bird world dur- 

 ing January will be practically unchanged until'the 

 latter part of February. Then, should there be a 

 period of milder weather, we may expect to hear 

 the Song Sparrow and Bluebird inaugurate the sea- 

 son of song. An unusually warm day, earlier in 

 the month, may have temi)ted either or both of these 

 birds to prematurely welcome spring, but as a rule 

 we do not hear them until late in Februar\^, and then 

 only under favorable conditions. 



The song of these birds bids us keep watcli f(^r tlie 

 earliest migrants, the Robin, Purple Grackle, and 



