The Birds’ Calendar 
of the ladder. There is very little interest in 
watching any creature supposed to have a mind 
and will of his own, when you always know 
just what he is going to do. On the 23d 1 was 
glad to find the white-throated sparrow, for he 
has come to spend the winter, if not individu- 
ally, at least specifically. Those now here will 
doubtless be replaced by later arrivals from the 
north. 
There is a noticeable lack of timidity in the 
young of all birds, with less than six months’ 
experience of the world, as compared with 
their elders, but such innocent trustfulness 
wears off by the second season. 
The golden - winged woodpecker, another 
winter resident, came back the last of the 
month, and at their old resort on the Isl- 
and I found the night herons, old and young. 
It would add to the interest of seeing all these 
returning migrants, if they only bore a legible 
and precise record of their summer wanderings, 
carrying our minds back to the White Moun- 
tains, the forests and lakes of Maine, the 
scenery of the St. Lawrence, or the colder reg- 
ions of Labrador. 
The oven- bird, strutting about in mock 
dignity like a child in his father’s boots, is 
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