THE BIRD-LIFE OF A YEAR. 13 



to the weather. Where seed-bearing weeds are 

 accessible, there we may look for Juncos and Tree 

 Sparrows ; a cedar-tree filled with berries often 

 tempts Kobins, Bluebirds, and Wax wings to win- 

 ter near it. I recall a sheltered pile of buckwheat 

 chaff at Englewood, N. J., which furnished food 

 for a small flock of Mourning Doves all one winter. 

 In Central Park, New York city, a Mockingbird, 

 who had evidently escaped from a cage, fed upon 

 the berries of a privet tree, and survived in apparent 

 comfort the most severe winter weather. Food, 

 therefore, rather than temperature, is the all im- 

 portant factor in a bird's life at this season. 



BIRDS OP THE MONTH. 



PERMANENT RESIDENTS (see page 6). 



WINTER VISITANTS (see page 7). 



FEBRUARY. 



The conditions prevailing in the bird world dur- 

 ing January will be practically unchanged until the 

 latter part of February. Then, should there be a 

 period of milder weather, we may expect to hear 

 the Song Sparrow and Bluebird inaugurate the sea- 

 son of song. An unusually warm day, earlier in 

 the month, may have tempted either or both of these 

 birds to prematurely welcome spring, but as a rule 

 we do not hear them until late in February, and then 

 only under favorable conditions. 



The song of these birds bids us keep watch for the 

 earliest migrants, the Eobin, Purple Grackle, and 



