120 HOW TO STUDY BIRDS 



are ripe, such as black cherries, grapes, poke-berries, 

 etc. Many birds gather to feed upon these, notably 

 robins and cedar-birds, but many kinds of birds will 

 try a hand at them, flickers, bluebirds, various 

 thrushes, finches, orioles, and others. The ruffed 

 grouse is fond of such things, and I have seen them 

 stay to eat longer than was prudent at the approach 

 of the hunter. Sometimes the shrubbery by the road- 

 sides is very much alive with these various lovers of 

 fruit, and it is a pretty sight. 



There is in the fields a distinctive flavor of these 

 late summer and early autumn conditions which is 

 especially attractive. It is the time of ripening fruits, 

 of harvesting of grain, of hayfields swept and gar- 

 nished. Bobolinks and blackbirds flock to the grain- 

 fields to glean as well as to pillage, and so do the 

 pretty mourning doves. I enjoy flushing straggling 

 flocks of the latter and watching them go kiting off 

 at their swift and even pace. The meadowlarks are 

 there too, and their attractive browns and yellows 

 blend charmingly with the yellowing of grass and 

 grain. The host of the various finches and sparrows 

 is in evidence. Along the edge of the fields or in the 

 scattered trees is a good sort of a place to find various 

 flycatchers. 



The September woodland has its special charm. 

 While the general aspect is like summer, the sight of 

 occasional bright leaves and berries and a peculiar 

 cooling and fragrance in the air impart a delicious 

 feeling, call it autumnal anticipation. The mi- 



