266 Bird -Lore 



education by some practical work for the encouragement of teachers and the 

 benefit of pupils. — A. H. W. 



[For nesting-boxes, etc., address Mr. Ernest Harold Baynes, Sunset Ridge, Mer- 

 iden, N. H.] 



FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 



From a Little Girl in Massachusetts 



Last winter I started a boarding-house for birds by putting suet out on 

 our balcony. Our first arrivals were some dear little black-capped birds. They 

 said their names plainly, so I knew they were Chickadees. They had many 

 other interesting calls and habits. 



Soon a Downy Woodpecker came. I knew it was a Mrs. Downy, because 

 Mr. Downy wears a red cap. She would lie on the opposite branch from 

 the suet and peck at it. 



The Chickadees tried to imitate this habit. One would hold on with his 

 feet, fluttering his wings while he did so, and peck with all his might. He 

 could stay but a minute, and soon flew away. 



The next arrivals were some Juncos. The first one I saw on a snowy day, 

 flying at the garbage can. We threw him some crumbs, and he came and got 

 them. Next day he brought more Juncos. 



By the first of March, our winter boarders came less frequently, and soon 

 the Song Sparrows, Robins, and Catbirds came. The Robins and Catbirds 

 were around almost all the time, so I thought they might build nests nearby, 

 and they did. 



Up in Vermont, where I go every summer, I was playing on the rocks in a 

 brook. I went near the bank to get some raspberries, when I discovered a Song 

 Sparrow's nest, with four naked babies in it. 



Farther up the brook mother and I saw a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. He was 

 handsome, and I like his song next best to that of the Thrushes. 



At twilight, we like to go up to the hill pastures and listen to the Thrushes. 

 I had never seen one until we went up a mountain. At the top I saw one 

 perched on a dead pine, and heard him sing. 



These are only a few of the most interesting birds which have given me such 

 a good time. — -Helen Taylor (aged 13I years). 4 Central Street, Methuen, 

 Mass. 



[This little girl knows how to see, and to enjoy nature. She has learned something 

 from the birds which will give her pleasure as long as she lives, and she will keep on learn- 

 ing new and beautiful things because she has made the right start. — A. H. W.] 



An English Sparrow Which Was Beaten 



One day I saw a Martin, whose family was occupying my bird-house, en- 

 gaged in conflict with an English Sparrow. The latter would make as if he 



