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AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



the birds that form these successive tides is hirgely regulated by the 

 character and quantity of the food supply. The fox sparrow, robin and 

 meadow lark with their big hard bills can make use of any kind of 

 food that Mother Nature happens to have in her lands; but the Vireos 

 and Warblers with their smaller softer bills must wait till the soft 

 bodied insects and tender buds of the new season are ready before 

 they venture forth from the perpetual summer of the tropics. 



The attractions of the May woods in central Illinois are irresistible. 

 There are no flaunting or glaring masses of color, little to compel, 

 much to suggest. The mounting sun only hints at what he will do 

 after a while when "he gets his hand in." Slender twigs and swelling 

 tree buds filter his rays. Heat and glare are taken out, warmth and 

 subtle content come through to us prone upon the blue grass sod be- 

 low. The woodsy odors too are balm. The smell of sprouting grass, 

 of resinous budcasings and early flowers all tell the same story of the 

 expanding force of the new season. 



NEST AND EGGS OF MD. YELLOW-THROAT. 



If men do not appreciate the out door life for the first two weeks in 

 May, the birds surely do. One need not go far at such a time to hunt 

 them, give them half a chance and they will show themselves. Pick 



