AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



27 



barrel destroyed his aim; just in time for the gun went off, stirring 

 the branches on the trees where the Chickadees were but without 

 harming them. Thus the little bird had unwittingly saved the lives of 

 his companions. Needless to say the man did not further molest that 

 band of Chickadees on that day. The cardinal whistles occasionally 

 in mid winter as if to keep his bold voice 

 from becoming rusty, but on the wholc 

 we see him very seldom. 



The crows are conspicuous gleaners 

 of the woods and fields in the season 

 of ice and snow; as they Aap slowly by, 

 their dark shadows on the snow betray- 

 ing them. 



The Golden-crowned Kinglet's gerv"- 



ally thrice repeated ^l |pjB: J^ ~~" 



lisp may be heard 11 f ITj-zJzIz 



frequently. It is an ~ 



insignificant -nnnrl ■-■ .=^^^-05«.- — , . _ , ,, , 



^....T..._^ _^k^^^ - -- birds wander through 



but it means much — s: /^LjiÄll ^S>^^k ^1 1-, -, . 



,, . , , 1-." ^F^^ '^^^^Ä the cold woods m 



fearless sparks ot _- , \r , -^^^^^ 1. r .i. i. 



,, j ^^^^ ^^^S^ search 01 the bernes 



' , . s. /'^'^^^T '^'■P^ - of wild trees. To see 



Robms and ßlue- r_ '^ ^ z ^l&p \\\ , ^, . , 



one of these m Janu- 



ary is to see an almost 



forgotten friend. 



This is the season 



for studying birds' 



nests. The bare trees expose \lcrin ard 



the wintry blasts carry many to the 



ground. Except occasionally where a 



Red Squirrel has converted one of them 



into ahome, they are tenantless and we 



can examine them without harming any 



one. This is the season during which 



you can most readily estimate the num- 



ber and kinds of birds which inhabit a 



certain locality. These deserted homes teil the silent story of the 



happy birds that occupied them for so brief a period and by counting 



those that still remain a fair idea of the bird population may be gained. 



üf course this pertains only to those birds which nest in trees or 



bushes, the largenumbers and varieties which nest on the ground leav- 



ing no discernable trace of their homes. 



