Edited by T. GILBERT PEARSON 

 Address all coniiminicatioiis for this Departiiieiil lo llie Kdilor. at Greensboro, N. C. 



A PERSON who has never fed the wild birds has missed a pleasure 

 which can come in no other way. It is such a joy to give happiness 

 to nature's untamed creatures that any one who can do so is the 

 loser if he does not avail himself of the opportunity. In winter this can 

 be done, probably, in no better way than by providing them with food 

 when the natural store is low. 



After the frosty nights of autumn have destroyed or put to sleep the 

 great hordes of insect life in the fields and woods, and the snows have come 

 and covered the seeds of the grasses and of all but the tallest weeds, there 

 are many little hungry mouths in the land. The difficulty of finding suffi- 

 cient food is often increased by the numbing efifect of the fierce gales which 

 sweep through the forests or the chilling damp from a biting sleet. These 

 are the times of all others when food should be placed where the birds can 

 reach it. Usually they will show their hearty appreciation by eating liberally 

 of the supply. 



On another page Mrs. Wright suggests some of the methods she has 

 employed in feeding birds. There are so many ways of doing the same thing, 

 however, that it would be helpful to learn how some of our Young Observers 

 feed the birds. It would also be interesting to know the names of the 

 feathered guests who come to the banquet spread for them. 



We should, therefore, like to publish in the next number of BiRD-LoRE 

 some experiences of persons who have given food to wild birds in winter 

 and watched them while feeding. 



Three prizes are ofifered to the boys and girls of fourteen years or under, 

 who send the best letter of three hundred to four hundred words on ' Feed- 

 ing Birds in Winter.' The prizes will be a bird book or books to the value 

 of $2.50 for the first prize, $2 for the second prize, and $1.50 for the third 

 prize. 



The letters should be sent to the Editor of this department, at Greens- 

 boro, North Carolina, not later than January i, 1905, in order that the 

 prize-winners may be announced in February BiRD-LoRE. — T. G. P. 



A Birds' Christmas Tree 



By ELVA L. BASCOM 



PERHAPS readers of BiRD-LoRE will be interested in hearing of a 

 birds' Christmas tree that added to the holiday pleasure of a house- 

 hold, as well as to that of its bird neighbors. The charming idea 

 was carried out last Christmas by a family living just outside Poughkeepsie, 



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