JFor %tat\^tx& and ^tutient^ 



Tree -Planting 



THIS is the season for tree -planting, and we cannot too strongly 

 urge the desirability of making our lawns, gardens, and orchards 

 more attractive to birds by planting in them trees which will fur- 

 nish birds with food in summer as well as in winter. 



If, as a result of a widespread movement in this direction, the supply 

 of food for birds should be greatly increased, there would doubtless be 

 a corresponding increase on the part of the birds. Practical bird -pro- 

 tection means not only preventing the destruction of birds but creating 

 conditions which shall make the world more habitable for them. 



We hope that this matter of tree -planting for the birds will be given 

 especial consideration on Arbor Days when, among the trees which are 

 set out, there should be the mulberry, wild cherry, dogwood, Parkman's 

 apple, mountain ash, and other trees bearing fruit of which birds are fond. 



In this connection we would refer our readers to Lange's 'Our Native 

 Birds' and to Mrs. Merriam Bailey's 'Birds of Village and Field' for 

 further information in regard to this exceedingly important subject. 



Birds and Seasons 



THIRD SERIES 



APRIL AND MAY BIRD-LIFE NEAR BOSTON 



By Ralph Hoffmann 



HARDLY two observers will agree on the date of arrival of the same 

 species; for many factors enter into the problem. In the first 

 place, few people can devote their daj^s to playing the "detective 

 of nature;" on our way to our work we too often hear voices calling us to 

 the woods where many new arrivals wait to be recorded. In the second 

 place, individual birds vary greatly in hardiness; a certain Phoebe or Chebec 

 almost always comes a day or two before the rest of the species ; breeding 

 birds naturally precede the migrants, whose northern homes are not yet 

 ready for them. Unless, therefore, an observer lives very near a bird's 

 home, he often misses the arrival. Thus it will always happen in the case 

 of rare or local birds that the man who has a Martin box under his window 

 or a White -eyed Vireo on his beat, is the best authority for the arrival of 

 that bird. Again, some places are on much more favorable migration routes 

 than others; where many birds pass, the chance for an early one is of 

 course better. At the head of Lower Mystic Lake in Medford, Tree 

 Swallows may be seen in early April in hundreds — among them is often a 

 Barn Swallow a week or ten days ahead of his fellows. Lastly, certain 



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