The Audubon Societies 391 



big Rayo lamps, running around the base, moving his head this way and 

 that, and acting as though he saw another bird in the shining surface of the 

 lamp. He had never tried to go near the light, so we never thought of his 

 getting burned. But he must have flown over the flame and burned his wings. 

 He lived only a few days, and we buried him near the fence under the date- 

 palm. We missed him very much, and will never forget the dear little fellow. 

 It makes me sad even yet when I hear his people calling to each other in the 

 oak tree. They came back again this year and made their nest in the same 

 old place. Only a few weeks ago they were teaching three little Owlets to fly 

 and take care of themselves. And, oh! the bugs and insects they will destroy 

 if they are not killed by some bad boy, or rather, by some boy that does not 

 really intend to be bad, but does not understand how much good even a little 

 Owl will do. Only a few nights ago I was lying on the couch looking at the 

 moon, when a big roach ran across the screen wire in the moonlight. It got 

 about half way when down darted a little Owl and Mr. Roach was no more. 



I have written what I could remember of our little pet and his family, 

 to please a kind lady that loves birds as I do, and also, in the hope that it 

 will be read by boys and girls. 



If we only realized what good the birds do in this beautiful world of ours, 

 we would never kill one of the bright little things, but do everything we could 

 to protect them and help them to live. — A Friend of the Birds, Cocoanut 

 Grove, Dade County, Florida. 



[To have an experience like the one described above is to discover a new world. 

 The comradeship of a bird is quite a different thing from that of a dog or a cat. Even 

 the domesticated canary is a wild creature as compared with pussy. There are people 

 who are glad to take the trouble of bringing up a baby bird, if chance throws one in their 

 way, and there are others who find their way out into the world of the birds, and who 

 love to spend hours watching the feathered folk about their daily activities. These are 

 the people who learn by actual contact with nature and the birds, instead of from books. 

 Perhaps the story of "Buzz Fuzz" will make you think it worth while to hunt up the 

 wild life about you. Man needs to be a friend and not an enemy to nature. As Christ- 

 mas-time draws near, it is beautiful to remember that long ago the shepherds of Judea 

 loved their flocks, and that man's greatest Friend was familiar with the foxes in their 

 holes, the birds of the air, and the lilies of the field. — A. H. W.] 



FROM YOUNG OBSERVERS 



The Bird Story 



My mother and I take great interest in the birds. 



There have been a number of Doves that have lived in our barn, and Mr. 

 G.'s this winter. I have fed them bread crumbs many times, and they are 

 such pretty birds one can not help but like them. 



Auntie and I have had a piece of meat hanging on a tree, so that the 

 birds could help themselves to it. The birds will come and peck away at 



