6 Massachusetts Audubon Society 



which was on the window-sill. In the fall he repeated this as often as 

 he wished and then one day he disappeared. 



"This spring (1921) he returned to the window-sill, and so we put 

 his cage there again. He has made use of the food placed there and 

 still is as tame as ever. We do not know where his nest is." 



The lessons fairly drawn from all of the above are: 



1. Together with the many incidents recorded by others, practical 

 proof that if unmolested, birds will return to^their former haunts year 

 after year. 



2. If molested, they probably will not do so. 



3. We should all carefully consider whether we prefer cats or 

 song-birds in and about our homes and "govern ourselves accordingly." 

 The two do not "mix" in brotherly fashion, and when they do establish 

 relations the birds most surely will leave if they are not killed by the 

 cats. 



Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. George C. Warren. 



July 29, 1921. 



AUDUBON BIRD CHARTS 

 Educators throughout the country are rapidly coming to appre- 

 ciate the value of the Audubon Bird Charts. They are a beautiful 

 decoration for a schoolroom wall, where they always attract attention, 

 interest, and admiration. In their teaching quality, however, lies their 

 chief value and they are also largely used outside of the schoolroom. 

 During the last few years shipments have been made not only to prac- 

 tically every state in the Union, but also to Alaska, Hawaii, and Jerusalem. 

 A recent order was received from the Department of the Interior, 

 Washington, D. C, for several sets of these charts for use in the Park 

 Department of Yellowstone National Park. For young children these 

 charts are especially admirable as they teach through their very presence 

 on the nursery wall. 



PROTECT THE LAUREL 



The time is at hand when people begin to think of gathering greens 

 from the woods for Christmas decoration. Many of these, like the 

 club-moss, which trails along the surface in pine woods, commonly 

 known as evergreen, may be taken in quantity without doing harm. 

 Others should be collected with discrimination or not at all. One of 

 the last is our mountain laurel {Kalmia latifolia), which stands in beau- 

 tiful green masses on our hillsides after all other leaves have fallen. 

 The Society for the Protection of Native Plants urges us to protect the 

 laurel and refrain from cutting it at all times. The laurel is a slow- 

 growing shrub and is now no longer to be found in many sections where 

 once it was abundant, because of indiscriminate gathering. Its use 

 as a winter decoration should be discouraged. 



