44 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



block, hiding it under the eaves or dropping it in some old 

 woodpecker's hole across the street. 



There was a little tussle on the counter today. The Downy 

 had come out from under somewhere at the very same mom- 

 ent the Nuthatch appeared. The latter immediately turned 

 about face and spread out his wings threateningly, jerking his 

 head back and forth so rapidly that it frightened the Downy 

 right off his perch. He chased him to the "Goody Tree," as 

 the children call the elm that's crammed with food, where he 

 disappeared and stayed hidden for a long time. Back came 

 the conquering hero and settled himself in the middle of the 

 counter, sampling every nutshell there and daring anybody to 

 come near. 



What delight the children have in watching them. Most 

 of the children are only six and a half, yet can imitate their calls 

 and know them anywhere at first sight. We have walks in the 

 fields and woods on the brightest, mildest days in the winter, 

 and are so happy when my whistle brings an answer from the 

 chickadee. 



Rockford 



The past winter E. E. Bartlett, an active bird lover of this 

 city, announced in his paper, The Rockford Register-Gazette, 

 a bird house building contest with attractive inducements and 

 prizes. He appealed to all the boys of the city, arranging three 

 groups of entries, — the first group for grade school pupils, the 

 second for high school students, and the third for all other boys 

 not eligible to compete in the first two groups. The third group 

 was made especially for boys out of school and out of work who 

 were interested in birds. It also gave them an opportunity to' 

 earn a little money, since handsome cash prizes were offered 

 to the winners in each division. 



In order to eliminate waste of time and good material, The 

 Register-Gazette published a series of photographs with detailed 

 plans of such bird houses as had been tried out and found prac- 

 tical and successful. These plans were furnished by the Park 

 Board office from its own patterns. They were in no sense arbi- 

 trary in restricting the ingenuity of the builder, but merely laid 

 down simple fundamental principles of bird house construction. 

 Every encouragement was held out to the builder to give his 

 fancy full sway. 



E. E. Lewis, Superintendent of Schools, Thomas Bjorge, Sup- 

 ervisor of Manual Arts in the high school, and Paul B. Riis, Sup- 

 perintendent of Parks, were chosen to act as judges. The houses 

 were to be judged on their merits in workmanship, appearance, 

 and originality of design. 



Leo Lyon, Director of Physical Education, enlisted the ser- 

 vices of the manual training department of the Boys Club with 

 the result that 125 houses were put on exhibition at a prominent 



