KILL-DEE 



1049 



for prohibiting the sale of game ; for destroying the 

 traffic in birds' feathers ; and in the capture of native 

 birds for sale as cage-birds. It makes expenditures every 

 year for the protection of big game, for feeding game- 

 birds and song-birds in winter, and in prosecuting vio- 

 lators of the law." 



BIRD LIFE IN NOVEMBER 



NON'EMBER is the month of sparrows. The 

 white-throated, white-crowned, fox and tree 

 sparrows and the red polls and snow buntings 

 have come down from the north and joined our resident 

 species. Fields, hedge rows, lake shores and the borders 

 of woods, overgrown with weeds, furnish abundant food, 

 and the thick winter plumages of the birds are ample pro- 

 tection against the cold. 



The frosts have killed most of the insects or driven 

 them into hibernation, so that only a few of the insect- 

 eating birds remain. These are the hardy woodpeckers, 

 chickadees and kinglets that seek out the larvae where 

 they are hiding for the winter or live upon the eggs 



fastened to the bark and branches, and they will stay 

 with us all winter. 



Some of the blackbirds and grackles that have been 

 feeding upon insects all summer have changed their fare 

 with the coming of winter to a diet of seeds, and many 

 of them are still with us. A few of the fruit-eating 

 robins and bluebirds may still be around, and the fish- 

 eating kingfisher and an occasional heron may likewise 

 be seen. Practically all of the shore birds have left the 

 northern states but the winter ducks like the old squaws, 

 canvasbacks, golden-eyes, and mergansers, are just be- 

 ginning to arrive in numbers. 



Now is the time to begin putting out food for the 

 birds. Fasten pieces of suet to the branches and trunks 

 of trees and scatter chicken feed beneath the shrubbery 

 in an effort to retain as many about the grounds as 

 possible. In the December issue various forms of feed- 

 ing devices and methods of attracting and taming the 

 winter birds will be discussed, but November is the 

 time to begin attracting the birds if you would have a 

 large number around all winter. 



Kill-dee 



(Plover) 

 By H. L. Johnson 



Wandering lost-one, ever at home 

 From Hudson's shore to Gila's strand. 



Whither I will, there shall I roam. 



Shot like a bolt from the Master's hand, 



I love the mountains, I love the sea. 



Hark to my cry, kill-dee ! kill-dee ! 



Strong and brave, clean and true. 

 Sharp-angled wing, tendons like steel, 



Fighting the storm or piercing the blue. 

 Mine the Supreme-gift, to live and to feel. 



I love the marsh, abide with me. 



Hark to my cry, kill-dee ! kill-dee ! 



Lost in the storm, weary and spent, 



I pause for a breath in the city's glare. 



Or drop for a while in the woodsman's tent. 

 Living like him, great toil, humble fare. 



God's great outdoors for him and me. 



Hark to my cry, kill-dee ! kill-dee ! 



Eternal wanderer, never at rest. 

 Wanderlust ever, faithful to nature. 



Optimist always, somewhere to nest. 



Braving the present, no fear of the future, 



I love all men, mate, I love thee. 



Hark to my cry, kill-dee ! kill-dee ! 



Gift of the Infinite, proof of God's love. 

 Lover of men and trusting them fully, 



Lose not your faith in the power above, 

 Take then my message, trusting it wholly, 



I bring you friendship, slay not me. 



Hark to my cry, kill-dee ! kill-dee ! 



