Notes on Winter Birds 



PRIZE ESSAY 

 By ORREN W. TURNER (aged 14 years). Tarboro, N. C. 



ONE evening on Friday. December the eleventh, while stroIHng along 

 on the edge of a wood, my attention was attracted by a flutter 

 almost under my feet and as I looked down a little Chipping Spar- 

 row which I had nearly stepped on, flew up. But he did not fly far, how- 

 ever, for I saw he was wounded. He tried to alight on a limb but he was 

 so weak that he could not sit upon the limb so he had to fly on the ground. 



He made no resistance when I tried to catch him. When I began to 

 examine him to find his wound, he began to scream and flutter so I sat 

 down beside a stump so that I could examine him gently. 



His screams had attracted many birds, for thirteen Partridges (Bob- 

 whites) came down beside the fence, and there were seven Jays, four 

 Brown Thrashers, eleven Towhees, sixteen Chipping Sparrows and about 

 twenty-five White-throated Sparrows or Peabody Birds, all of which began 

 to scream and scold at me. 



I noticed a Red -headed Woodpecker which kept flying around me as if 

 trying to defend the stump or the Sparrow. 



To my surprise 1 found a large dog-tick which had taken up his winter 

 quarters on Chippy's neck and was eating his life away. When 1 pulled 

 the tick off. Chippy gave a cry and fainted away and I thought that he was 

 dead, but he slowly recovered. 



While I was sitting beside the stump, I noticed that the latter had many 

 holes in it and one especially which was larger than the others, attracted 

 my attention. The hole was about as big as a dollar and it had a piece of 

 oak bark stuck in it. 



1 thought I would examine the hole so I set Chippy under my hat. 

 By this time all the birds had quit the trees near me, but the Woodpecker 

 never ceased to make attacks at me. In the hole I found 58 acorns and 

 two hickorys so I searched the old stump over and in all I found 136 acorns 

 and three hickorys. Some of the acorns just fitted the holes and were 

 pegged tightly with pieces of bark. I put all of the acorns back just as I 

 found them and carried Chippy home. 



I gave him some suet and oats and crumbs of bread and wrapped him up 

 in some cotton. In two days Chippy could fly a little way but I thought I 

 would keep him until he was perfectly strong. 



On December 14., I returned to the old stump beside the wood and to 



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