See him dash from that old fence 

 post after a mouthful of files or gnats; 

 or hopping from twig to twig in the 

 cedar tree, selecting the choicest of 

 the spicy berries. Sometimes he will 

 venture in among the crowd of talka- 

 tive sparrows that are harvesting the 

 crumbs in your dooryard, but if they 

 dispute his right he keeps away. The 

 piece of suet hung in the tree near the 

 bird-box, however, is his own, and he 

 views the intruding buntings and tres- 

 passing jays from his front porch or 



dormer window with much indigna- 

 tion. 



However, he says very little, uses no 

 bad language like that of the jay, and 

 soon regains the sereneness of temper 

 natural to him. And we like him all 

 the better for it, for, although it is not 

 nice to be imposed upon and we like 

 to see offenders get their deserts, the 

 one who takes life cheerfully and un- 

 complainingly overlooks or forgets the 

 wrongs he cannot right is the one we 

 like to have as a friend. 



MARCH. 



It is the first day of March, 



Each minute sweeter than before; 



The red-breast sings from the tall larch 

 That stands beside the door. 



There is a blessing in the air, 



Which seems a sense of joy to yield 

 To the bare trees, and mountains bare, 



And grass in the green field. 



Love, now a universal birth. 

 From heart to heart is stealing. 



Form earth to man, from man to earth: 

 It is the hour of feeling. 



One moment now may give us more 



Than fifty years of reason; 

 Our minds shall drink at every pore 



The spirit of the season. 



— Wordszvorth. 



TAMING BRDS. 



GUY STEALEY 



BUT very few of the boys and girls 

 who watch the many species of 

 our birds flit about in the sum- 

 mer time and who listen in de- 

 light to their singing, know that by ex- 

 pending a little time and patience 

 they can make these sweet songsters 

 quite tame. I do not mean that the 

 birds are to be caught and confined; I 

 never could bear to' see a bird in cap- 

 tivit}-, and indeed most wild ones will 

 live but a brief time when so served, 

 but that the\' can be made gentle in 



their natural state. Where I live, in the 

 Rocky Mountains, there are countless 

 numbers of birds throughout the spring 

 and summer months and, being a great 

 lover of them, I have naturally observed 

 their habits closely. Trusting, there- 

 fore, that some of the boys and girls 

 who entertain the affection for them 

 that I do, will see these lines, I venture 

 to give some of my experiences along 

 the path of bird-life. 



Some five years ago I constructed 

 several miniature cottages, with veran- 



