A BOYS' BIRD EVENING. 171 



the boat-tailed grackle, the brown-lieaded nut- 

 hatch, and the red-cockaded woodpecker. 



My boys became so interested that I couhl 

 scarcely bring our colloquy to a close. We 

 must have spent an hour and a half together. 

 They asked some rather puzzling questions, as, 

 for example : How- long do birds live ? Why 

 don't the migrants breed in the South ? What 

 causes them to press north in the spring? How 

 do they find their way and keep the right di- 

 rection in their nocturnal flights ? To these I 

 made answer as best I could. 



