The Audubon Societies - 187 



AN EXPERIENCE WITH CARDINALS 



I am a member of the Junior Audubon Society of Alexandria, Va., and we 

 have a very large society. We have been stud}Tng some ver}' interesting birds. 



One day last summer I went out walking and saw a Cardinal. He looked 

 like a huge ball of fire. He would fly into the meadow and light on the ground. 

 I thought he must have his nest there, but he did not. He and some others 

 were eating com in the meadow. The farmer had cut it and left some in the 

 field. It had shucks on it, and I shucked some and put it aside. Then I got 

 about thirty feet avray and stood like a tree. The Cardinal and his mate 

 came and ate about twelve grains of corn. I noticed that the mother bird did 

 not eat her food. She took it and flew away to a cluster of trees where I saw 

 her stop. Soon I saw her coming back after more, and she found the father 

 bird still gobbling the food dovni. After seeing him do this I lay doviji on the 

 ground, because he was looking right at me. I thought he would go any minute, 

 but he did not. I could have stayed there all night, and watched that bird 

 work for her little ones. — Roy Maxdee (Grade IV; age 12 yearsj, Aldie, Va. 



[Boys and girls -who are interested in birds get much more pleasure out of their v.-alks 

 through the country- than those ivho are not, and they grov,- up to be much more obser.-ant 

 and efficient men and women. — A. A. A.] 



BLUEBIRDS DRIVE AWAY THE SPARROWS 



We boys, Charles Emerson and Edward Dana, made some bird-houses 

 out of starch-boxes. We saw our first Bluebirds on the 24th and decided to 

 put our boxes up. That day we saw the male Bluebird investigating them. 

 The English Sparrows immediateh\ found them and Mr. Bluebird has had a 

 hard time fighting for our boxes. He drives them awa}' and they come back, 

 but he keeps persistentlj- at it. 



On the 27th he brought his prett\^ httle mate to see all the boxes. They 

 have himg around one of ours chiefl}', and we have hopes that they are going 

 to nest in it. Evers* once in a while a Sparrow flies into the tree, but he drives 

 it awa3^ It is a xery pretty sight to see the female perching on the door and 

 the male on top on guard. 



We have seen a good many different species of birds this year, including 

 Herring Gulls, Down}' Woodpecker, Crows, Chickadees, Acadian Owl, Even- 

 ing Grosbeak, Redpolls, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Bluebirds, Robins, Juncos, Fox 

 Sparrows, Song Sparrows, Flickers, Bronzed Grackle, and Phoebe. 



We saw large flocks of Juncos, Fox Sparrows, and Song Sparrows together. 

 and two Flickers and a Robin in the same tree. We got within four or five 

 feet of the Downy. — ^Edwapjd F. Dxsa. and Ceasjjes P. Emerson, Portland, 

 Maine. 



[Would that there were more boys like Edward and Charles to bmld bozes for the 

 birds and to keep lists of the birds widch they see. — A. A. A.l 



