AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



27 



barrel destroyed his aim; just in time for the gun went off, stirring 

 the branches on the trees where the Chickadees were but without 

 harming them. Thus the little bird had unwittingly saved the lives of 

 his companions. Needless to say the man did not further molest that 

 band of Chickadees on that day. The cardinal whistles occasionally 

 in mid winter as if to keep his bold voice 

 from becoming rusty, but on the whole 

 we see him very seldom. 



The crows are conspicuous gleaners 

 of the woods and fields in the season 

 of ice and snow; as they flap slowly by, 

 their dark shadows on the snow betray- 

 ing them. 



The Golden-crowned Kinglet's gener- 

 ally thrice repeated ! 

 lisp may be heard 

 frequently. It is an 



insignificant sound, m «» 



, I f£rr ^_ . M birds wander through 



but it means much — MfSIE jwte Al . . , 



<< . , . a f S the cold woods in 



tearless sparks ot „■_ , :_* f§ . , i , , 



,, "N B search or the berries 



' . , „, I "^ ' Ml m of wild trees. To see 



Robins and Blue- lt< IJHi . J _ 1 . 



one of these in Janu- 

 ary is to see an almost 

 forgotten friend. 



This is the season 

 for studying birds' 

 nests. The bare trees expose llemard 

 the wintry blasts carry ma ny to the 

 ground. Except occasionally where a 

 Red Squirrel has converted one o f them 

 into a home, they are tenant less and we 

 can examine them without harming any 

 one. This is the season during which 

 you can most readily estimate the num- 

 ber and kinds of birds which inhabit a 

 certain locality. These deserted homes tell the silent story of the 

 happy birds that occupied them for so brief a period and by counting 

 those that still remain a fair idea of the bird population may be gained. 

 Of course this pertains only to those birds which nest in trees or 

 bushes, the large numbers and varieties which nest on the ground leav- 

 ing no discernable trace of their homes. 



