64 Bird - Lore 



In addition to scarcity of food, birds must face enemies, although these 

 are probably fewer in winter than in summer, with the exception of the enemy 

 man, who appears in the form of the trapper or hunter. The Shrikes or 

 Butcher-birds are conspicuous in cold weather, ready to strike the unwary 

 Kinglet, Redpoll, or Sparrow, on their legitimate search for mice and insects, 

 while cats prowl at large, springing upon feathered prey with easy stealth. 



Some enemies of the birds are hidden away, sleeping through the cold 

 months. The turtles, for example, some species of which are fond of the eggs 

 of wild or domesticated Ducks, hibernate in winter, and many snakes lie 

 in torpor too, rolled up singly or several together, in holes in the ground. 



Sudden drops in temperature and sleet-storms that cover everything with 

 an ice-mantle are very hard upon bird-life, as the chronicles of nearly every 

 winter tell us. In addition to these dangers, there are unsuspected dangers 

 lurking in the form of electric wires and lights, high netted wire fences and 

 polluted streams, but these cause more destruction among birds at other sea- 

 sons of the year than in winter. Can you think for what reasons this is so? 



The one great advantage which birds possess over all other living things 

 is the power of flight, a power that enables them to seek more favorable con- 

 ditions when the winter is too rigorous and food over-scarce. Flight alone, 

 however, could not save a bird from death by starvation although it might 

 from death by cold. A wonderful sense of sight and a more mysterious sense 

 of direction guide birds in their search for food, while a remarkable covering 

 of feathers protects them alike from cold, moisture or heat. 



Look at the bark of any tree and listen carefully as you look, with your 

 ear against the tree if you choose, and then watch a Woodpecker, Nuthatch 

 or Brown Creeper do the same. Feel of the bark, running a finger slowly 

 along its rough surface. Which sees and hears and feels the most, you or the 

 birds? Try to follow a bird on its daily round of food-gathering and think 

 whether you could locate a second time all the places which it visits as long as 

 a food-supply lasts. Notice how quickly a Chickadee discovers a chunk of suet 

 put out to attract it and with what regularity it finds its way back to the novel 

 ration. Try the same clothes on during the coldest day in winter and the 

 warmest day in summer and stand out in a drenching rain or driving snow, 

 if you wish to prove how far superior a bird's plumage is, as a means of 

 protection, to our customary coverings. 



After all, it is very little that we know about life in the open in winter, 

 shut up as we are in heated houses, surrounded with artificial light when 

 darkness draws down, fed upon forced food-supplies from hothouses and 

 distant climes when our gardens are frozen and unproductive, and protected 

 in numberless ways from dangers and enemies of all kinds. 



A hole in a tree may look snug and tight to a Woodpecker, Owl or squirrel, 

 but not to you or to me. The Ruffed Grouse keeps from freezing under a 

 blanket of snow and Gulls sit upon the ice, but neither of these places would 



