If the lunch counter proves attractive, as it doubtless will, many a liappy 

 iiour is in store for the friends within while they study at close range, the manners 

 of the chickadee, the red-breasted nuthatch, whitc-breaslcd nuthatch, downy and 

 hairy woodpeckers, bluejay, junco, an occasional robin and, maybe, one or two 

 other visitors. The juncos are not so likely to find the table as the others as they 

 are accustomed to search for their food dose to the ground. For these birds, as 

 for the white-throated sparrows, white-crowned and tree sparrows, the better 

 way is to keep a bit of ground clear of snow and place the food upon it. 



Of the last birds mentioned, the junco is the only one that may be expected 

 after severe weather arrives and even the junco will remain, if at all, in the very 

 southernmost part of our slate. 



To those living in central and northern Wisconsin, may come the pleasure of 

 watching the pine and evening grosbeaks, the red and the white winged crossbills, 

 Rohemian wnxwing and snow bunting. 



All winter birds must have a good supply of heat-producing food. To most 

 of them suet proves very acceptable. The best way to furnish it is to tie a piece 

 about three inches long in a band of cloth about an inch wide and long enough to 

 go around the limb or trunk of a tree and then fasten the band to a tree near the 

 house. 



The Willow Ptarmigan (La^opus iagflf?us) 



By VV. L. McAtee 



Length : About 14 inches. 



Food : Seeds and wild fruits. 



Range: Breeds from northern .\laska. northern Ranks Land, and central 

 Greenland south to eastern .Meutian Islands, central Mackenzie, central Keewatin, 

 James Bay, and southern Ungava ; south in winter to northern British Columbia. 

 Saskatchewan Valley, Minnesota. Ontario, and Quebec. 



To make the acquaintance of the willow ptarmigan in its chosen home one 

 must visit the open tundras on the borders of Bering ."^ca and the .\rctic coast. 

 Though not known to breed south of Labrador, the bird migrates in winter to the 

 St. Lawrence, and occasionally a straggler crosses our own boundary. In Alaska 

 in autumn willow ptarmigan unite in great flocks, numbering thnusaiuls, and 

 migrate to the neighborhood of the ^'ukon and its tributaries, finding there both 

 food and shelter. During the winter ptarmigan play an important role in the life 

 of both the Eskimo and the Indian and are snared and shot in great numbers, 

 often indeed forming the natives' only resource against the ever-recurring periods 

 of want and even famine. On the Kaviak Peninsula the Eskimo have taken ad- 

 vantage of the habitual low flight of the bird — only a few feet above the surface — 

 to net them in a curious way. Nelson thus describes it : "Taking a long and 

 medium fine-meshed fisliing net they spread it by fastening cross-pieces to it at 



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