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population which make no two months in the bird student's year 

 alike, and give to his outings a perennially renewed interest. Conse- 

 quently, the subject which has most naturally suggested itself for the 

 year's study is that of 'Birds and Seasons.' 



Under this head the writers we have mentioned will call the 

 student's attention to the more significant phases of bird-life as they 

 are controlled by season, and there will be added suggestions for lines 

 of study, related articles, and references to the literature of the subjects 

 under consideration. Thus we may take up in their due time the 

 questions of the relation of food to the distribution of birds, migra- 

 tion, mating, singing, nesting, molting, etc. 



Such a plan, it seems to us, should be of value not only to the 

 isolated worker but to the members of bird clubs and natural history 

 societies, who it is hoped may find it advisable to take the course of 

 study here suggested. 



In this connection, we would call the attention of our more recent 

 readers to Bird-Lore's Advisory Council, composed of over fifty promi- 

 nent ornithologists, distributed throughout the United States and 

 Canada, who have consented to respond to requests for information 

 and advice. The names and addresses of members of the Council 

 were published in Bird-Lore for February, igoo, and an amended list 

 will be published in our next issue. 



DECEMBER AND JANUARY BIRD-LIFE NEAR BOSTON 



By Ralph Hoffmann 



There is practically no southward or northward movement of 

 birds between Christmas week and St. Valentine's Day. A bird seen 

 between these dates is either a regular or an occasional winter resi- 

 dent, a chance straggler who has lost his way and his migrating 

 companions, or one of those northern visitors whose coming no one 

 can foretell. Not only is the number of species very small at this 

 season, but the individuals have become comparatively very scarce. 

 In the deep woods we walk in utter solitude, until at last the whirr 

 of a Grouse or the lisp of distant Chickadees breaks the stillness. 

 For the rarer winter birds we must look into sheltered hollows, or 

 near the sea, where the snow soon disappears. Our intercourse with 

 the few friends that are left now gains an added value. We make 

 pilgrimages to some wintering Song Sparrow, and feel repaid for a 

 long walk by the sight of a Shrike balancing on the top of a tree. 

 The squawk of a Robin, so familiar in summer, is now a startling 

 sound. By hanging suet, bones or broken nuts near the house, we 

 shall attract the Chickadees and their companions, the Nuthatches 

 and Downy Woodpeckers, and all soon become regular and most 



