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THE OENITHOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



BOTANIST 



a monthly devoted to birds and flowers 

 Joseph E. Blain, Publisher. 



WlLLARD N. CluXE, KdITOR. 



Articles on subjects of interest to Botanists and 

 Ornithologists solicited from all. 



TEUMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. 



One Subscription, six months, - - 20 cents. 

 One Subscription, one j^ear, - - - 35 cents. 

 Single Copies, - - - - - - 3 cents. 



Advertising rates made ];novvn on application. 



If manuscript is accepted tlie author will be noti- 

 fied at once. Rejected manuscript will be re'.urned 

 ■when accompanied by stamps. We reser\e the 

 right to edit all manuscript. 



Address all communications to 



Joseph E. Blain, Binghamton, N. Y. 

 Qton Postoffice as second-class 



Vol. I. NOVEMBER, 1891. No. XL 



There is still left more than a month 

 in which our readers may compete for 

 the ten prize subscriptions to this mag- 

 azine, offered in our last issue. Plants 

 have ceased blooming and many of the 

 birds have gone south, leaving us all 

 time to sum up the results of our sum- 

 mer's work. What has interested you, 

 in the past season, will interest the 

 readers of this magazine. Send us an 

 article. To the writers of the ten best 

 articles, a year's subscription to the 

 Ornithologist and Botanist will be 

 given. 



On the 19th of October, tlie editor 

 found a spray of arbutus in blossom. 

 Although other spring flowers often 

 bloom hi autumn, it seems to be a rare 

 tiling for this plant to do so. 



Each year the scientific magazines 

 print a vast amount of information that 

 can be found nowhere else ; and com- 

 plete files of the various publications 



have come to be considered no mean 

 addition to the library. We would sug- 

 gest to those whose files of this mag- 

 azine are incomplete, that they send for 

 the lacking numbers at once, as our 

 stock will soon be exhausted. We can 

 furnish all numbers, except those for 

 January and February, if ordered now. 



We commonly do not expect the first 

 spring fiowers till some time in March ; 

 but if we search under the fallen leaves 

 in the woods, we may find many prom- 

 ises of spring even iio'vv. Beneath pro- 

 tecting scales and bracts many buds lie 

 waiting for the warmth of another 

 spring. By transplanting these to a 

 fiower-pot in a sunny window of the 

 house, we can soon coax them into 

 bloom. Hepaticas are sure to respond 

 to this treatment at once, and by dig- 

 ging them up now one can have an 

 abundance of flowers at Christmas. 



The seasons determine what pirds we 

 shall notice, unless we make a special 

 eff'ort in another dii-ection. In summer 

 when there i? a bird in every tree, the 

 woodpeckers, nuthatches and chick- 

 adees pass almost unnoticed; but win- 

 ter makes eveiything equal, for thtn 

 these birds are the most prominent in 

 the woods. The decrease of their food- 

 supply forces them to make wider for- 

 ages for food : and at this season they 

 approach nearer to our dwellings than 

 at any other time If one wishes the 

 company of the birds all winter, he has 

 only to hang pieces of suet in the trees 

 about the house. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The Wilson Ornithological Chapter of 

 tlie Agassiz Association, will hold a 

 meeting at Obei-liii, Ohio, some time in 

 December. 



In ■' A New Theory on the Origin of 

 Life," George Davis, the author, advan- 

 ces some ideas that will be of interest 

 to students of evolution. The book is 



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