The Audubon Societies 65 



be safe or comfortable for us, for our blood would soon cool below the tempera- 

 ture of the atmosphere and then we would be in danger of freezing to death. 

 Many other animals besides man cannot live through intense cold, and these 

 must do one of three things, go away (migrate), go to sleep in a protected place 

 (hibernate), or perish. 



Of all birds which stay with us in winter, perhaps the seed-eaters are the 

 most attractive. The gay Redpolls come down from the north in flocks to hunt 

 for food; also the Crossbills and occasionally a Siskin or the rare Evening Gros- 

 ])eak. In New Hampshire the Pine Grosbeak has already appeared, while 

 any day a brilliant male Purple Finch in company with several dull speckled 

 mates may greet you, let it snow or blow as it will. 



All of these birds sing, as do the Junco and Tree Sparrows, too, long before 

 the great song-period of the year, the mating-season in late spring and early 

 summer, so that they are especially welcome to us as February and March 

 hold winter lingering in our neighborhood. 



Make friends then with the birds in winter, when they most need your 

 kindly care, and repay them with a generous hand for their careful surveil- 

 lance of trees and shrubs infested by insect pests. Be a part of nature, if you can, 

 instead of a careless onlooker. It is not nearly as difficult as it seems to become 

 intimate with birds and animals or with any living thing, but this may not 

 be learned in books or by the fireside. The real nature-lover follows the trail 

 on foot and through all kinds of weather. 



SUGGESTIONS 



Read selections from "Sharp Eyes," by Hamilton Gibson. 



"Wild Life near Home," by Dallas Lore Sharp. 



"Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers," by John Burroughs. 



"Walden" (Chap. XV. Winter Animals), by Henry Thoreau. 

 What plants have seeds left on them in winter? What trees bear cones? 

 Where do worms, frogs and toads pass the winter? What animals sleep in winter? 

 What would you expect to find under stones in winter? In decayed slumps or under 



masses of dead leaves ? 

 Are the Bob-whites as hardy as the Grouse ? 

 What becomes of the bees, ants and spiders in cold weather? 

 Look up Hibernation in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. — A. H. W. 



FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 



What Good Winter Birds Are 



The winter birds eat thousands of seeds. Some of the winter birds are 

 the Downy Woodpecker, the Nuthatch, and the Junco. The Junco eats seeds. 

 He likes the best, ragweed seeds and silver-leaf seeds. 



I have a bird-table. The Nuthatch, and the Downy Woodpecker visit 

 it every day. Once a Sparrow came to eat. Then the Nuthatch came. They 



