BIRD CURIOS. 31 



the morrow. So far as my observation goes, this pro- 

 vident care is displayed only by those birds that are 

 winter residents in our more northern latitudes. I 

 have never seen any of the vast company of migrants 

 making such provision for the proverbial rainy day ; 

 and, indeed, it would be unnecessary. To them suf- 

 ficient unto the day is the care as well as the evil 

 thereof, and so they take their " daily bread " as 

 they happen to find it. 



Our winter residents, however, are more thrifty, 

 as I have observed again and again. Here is an 

 instance which once came under my eye. While 

 sauntering along the border of the woods one day in 

 September, I noticed several nuthatches and black- 

 capped titmice busily gathering seeds from a clump 

 of sunflower stalks, and flying with them to the trees 

 near by. I found a seat and watched them for a 

 long while. A nuthatch would dart over to a sun- 

 flower stalk, cry. Yak 1 yak 1 in his familiar way, as if 

 talking affectionately to himself, deftly pick out a seed 

 from its encasement, fly with it to the trunk of an 

 oak-tree, and then thrust it into a crevice of the 

 bark with his long slender beak. He would then 

 hurry back for another seed, which he would treat 

 in the same way. 



The behavior of one of these little toilers was 

 especially interesting. By mistake he pushed a 

 seed into a cranny which seemed to be too deep for 

 his purpose, and so jhe proceeded in his vigorous 

 way to pry and chisel it out. He seemed to say to 

 himself: "That would be too hard to dig out on a 



