WAYSIDE OBSERVATIONS 



THE previous chapter closed with some notes on 

 the behavior of birds in the winter time. My 

 home rambling grounds in northeastern Kansas 

 were extremely undulating, .cut up into ridges and ravines, 

 most of which were covered with a thick growth of weeds, 

 bushes, and timber. In some places the thickets were so 

 dense as to be almost impenetrable. This diversity in the 

 topography of the country afforded considerable variety 

 in the faunal life of the region. 



For example, in bitter winter weather most of the 

 birds would hug the sheltered hollows, where they found 

 coverts in the copses, and would avoid the hilltops, which 

 were exposed to the nipping winds blowing from the 

 western prairies. As the spring approached, bringing 

 blander weather, they gradually moved up the hillsides, 

 many of them finding billsome seeds and berries on the 

 summits. 



However, note a difference in the temperament of 

 individuals of the same species. On the bitterest days 

 of winter I would sometimes leave the sheltered hollows 

 and lowlands and clamber to the summits of the wind- 

 swept hills, and, oddly enough, on the exposed heights 

 I occasionallv flushed a solitary bird, which would spring 



139 



