some dreamy land of fancy. He is not 

 only here then, but he also can be here 

 in very different weather. I well re- 

 member the first turtle dove I noticed in 

 winter. A bright December day, snow 

 on the ground, crisp air, a flock was 

 perched on the fence by a hay-stack en- 

 joying the bright sun light. It was a 

 surprise to me but since then I have 

 grown accustomed to them. Winter 

 must silence them for I have never heard 

 any sing at that season. 



Of the waxwings, the cedar-bird is 

 by far the most common. They do not 

 nest about our house and the only time 

 I am certain of them is in cherrytime. 

 Then they are here in full force. At 

 other times their movements are erratic, 

 as far as I can tell. Just as likely as 

 not some cold morning in January I hear 

 a peculiar faint twittering noise and see 

 a flock in cedar or pine. It may be they 

 will be quite friendly for several days, 

 then disappear until early June, in 

 cherry time. 



There are none that I like any better 

 than the wood birds. By wood birds I 

 mean woodpeckers, titmice, nuthatches, 

 chickadees, and brown creepers. 



The yellow hammer, flicker, or any of 

 the half hundred names he is called, is 

 much more common in summer and 

 autumn but, nevertheless, always win- 

 ters with us. He is a gay fellow though 

 somewhat subdued in December. I have 

 watched him working away industrious- 

 ly when the air was white with snow 

 and genus ''homo" felt a strong desire 

 to be inside the house. 



His cousin, the red-head, is more er- 

 ratic in his sojourn but can always be 

 relied upon if the supply of nuts is con- 

 siderable. He will gaily "hitch" up or 

 around a tree and work away vigorously 

 at the tender meat of an acorn or beech- 

 nut. I know a wood of maple and beech 

 that nearly always has some of these 

 winter birds. They seem to prefer a 

 diet of beech-nuts to that of anything 

 else. In summer they are abundant 

 every where, but in winter thy are not 

 so common. The black and white wood- 

 peckers, the hairy and dowmy, are the 

 ones most commonly met with in winter. 

 They frequent our yard and hammer 



away at the apple trees apparently in- 

 different to heat or cold. I frequently 

 find them in company with chickadees 

 and nuthatches. They are not shy but 

 regard you philosophically as you stare 

 at them through your glass. One reason 

 I like them is that they are so tame, or 

 rather so sure of being found at any time 

 you look carefully. 



I do not believe any one needs an in- 

 troduction to the chickadee. Read what 

 Emerson says of him. Possibly memory 

 of school days, if you have passed that 

 period, will come with song or story 

 about the chickadee. He is one of the 

 jolliest, most confiding little creatures I 

 have ever had the pleasure of meeting. 

 He is so tiny and yet so confident and 

 fond of the orchard, sometimes coming 

 close up to the window. Frequently he 

 conies to the window-sill for crumbs in 

 mid-winter and sings away as cheerily 

 as in mid-summer. 



Both the nuthatch and crested titmice, 

 or brown creeper, are very friendly also. 

 Some birds are indifferent to your 

 presence, but these last mentioned al- 

 ways seem to me to really like human 

 companionship. The nuthatch will stop 

 running about over the tree-trunks to 

 look carefully at you, sometimes even 

 coming up quite close. The titmouse 

 is not quite so sociable and regards you 

 more critically The brown creeper is 

 smaller and never seems to get away 

 from the tree trunk where it passes its 

 days. 



The downy and hairy woodpeckers, the 

 nuthatch, the chickadee and crested tit- 

 mouse form a coterie bv themselves 

 that make up a very friendly company. 

 In winter I am always sure of finding 

 them if I search carefully. Generally 

 they may be found without any trouble 

 but sometimes I have to hunt, always 

 successfully, I might add. 



The name shrike calls up bandit or 

 rufiian. He perhaps well merits the re- 

 proach though I have never seen much 

 of his work. A bird not very common 

 about here, yet as likely to be seen one 

 season as another. 



The great horned owl is our largest 

 bird of prey. Though numbered among 

 our resident birds, he is local in distri- 



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