3o8 Bird - Lore 



QUESTIONS 



1. Why are birds difficult to study in the fall? 



2. When do birds stop singing and why? 



3. How are the feathers arranged on a bird's body? 



4. What is the process of changing the feathers called and how long does it take? 



5. How does nature provide against the loss of flight of most birds during the period 

 of feather-change? 



6. What birds molt all of their flight-feathers at the same time and what method of 

 escape from enemies do they have during this time? 



7. How long is the winter plumage worn by water-fowl and what is it called? 



8. What is the effect of molting upon a bird's activity? 



9. How often do birds molt and what are the different molts called? 



10. How do some birds change their appearance without molting? 



11. Describe two types of feather wear. 



12. Compare a bird's molting with that of a cold-blooded animal such as a salamander. 



13. Name five birds whose winter plumage is strikingly different from their summer 

 plumage. 



14. Name five birds which secure their breeding plumage through feather-wear. 



15. Mention five facts of interest in connection with the plumage changes of the 

 House Sparrow. 



FOR AND FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 

 BOBBY 



I want to tell our young readers of Bird-Lore about Bobby, our pet Robin 

 and some other little birds. When I say 'our' I shall have to tell you that I 

 am a school teacher and 'our' includes my school and myself. 



Perhaps you would like to know that our school is in Lynn, Mass. ; and our 

 room is on the third floor of a twenty-room brick building. 



One day last June, when the children were dismissed for the noon inter- 

 mission, it was raining hard and the wind was blowing quite severely. A little 

 boy of twelve years came running back with a little Sparrow in his hand. The 

 tiny bird was drenched with rain. I suppose the storm had beaten him out 

 of his nest from behind some blind, and he had fallen to the ground. We put 

 him in a box, leaving the cover off and placing some warm cotton batting in 

 the bottom. One of the boys ran out to a store and got a package of graham 

 crackers. I soaked one in water, and our Sparrow opened his bill and ate it, 

 small bits at a time, of course. When we returned for the afternoon session, 

 one of the little seven-year-olds from the lower floor came running up with a 

 bird in his hand which he had picked up under a tree. The strong wind had 

 probably rocked the nest in the tree too hard, and this little bird had tumbled 

 out. It was a baby Robin with as yet very few feathers on him. We named 

 him 'Bobby.' 



We kept the birds in the box on the window. When they were hungry, they 

 would cry and one of the children would feed them. The Sparrow ate only 



