THE 



WILSON BULLETIN 



A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF 

 ORNITHOLOGY 



Vol. IX. JUNE, 1902. No. 2. 



BIRD STUDIES IN LORAIN COUNTY, OHIO. 



WINTER STUDIES. 

 BY LYNDS JONES. 



There is a fascination about the study of the hardy birds 

 who brave the winter's dangers and discomforts, which no 

 other season of the year affords. We feel not only grati- 

 tude but a sort of kinship to these our brothers in feathers 

 who seem to refuse the comforts of winter tropics that we 

 may not be left wholly deserted in the ice and snow for 

 three long months. We must feel a certain respect for them, 

 too, when we reflect that they have never a fire to warm 

 them and to soften their frozen food. Theirs is a constant 

 battle with the cold. The sun is their only fireside. 



The study of birds in winter, if one studies them under 

 all conditions, is pretty sure to be attended with discom- 

 forts at times. But if we dress for the work it serves rather to 

 increase our love for the season in what it brings of increased 

 capacity for work, than dread for it. There is a sense of be- 

 ing superior to the weather, whatever the temperature, 

 which is exhilarating and invigorating. We ought to feel 

 the better in health for breathing air from which the mois- 

 ture has been well frozen out. 



