BIRD PARADISE 



25 



among the trees. Just what he fiiids of appetiz- 

 ing food in the cold weather I do not know. I 

 conclude, however, from what I have seen, that 

 the grubs and insects under the bark of the trees 

 furnish him with an abundant supply. I see 

 him sometimes enjoying the friendship of the 

 woodpeckers, so I conclude he is more socially 

 inclined than some other members of his family. 



The birds are now well entered upon their long 

 vacation season. I fancy a real change in char- 

 acter marks their demeanor from this time on un- 

 til the housekeeping season returns again. The 

 young fellows, as a rule, dress in suits of their 

 own, though in some cases, as with the bobolinks, 

 the entfre race adopt a common raiment. In some 

 instances, notably with the blue jays, the children 

 of the family are attired in a manner entirely 

 their own. A year passes before they don thefr 

 regular suits. Just how the plumage is shaped 

 and reshaped, sometimes appearing in the guise 

 of one color, then another — no mistake made in 

 any case — is no small mystery. The bobolinks 

 are now gathered in flocks and in a few days will 

 be on their way southward. I can easily see how 

 the annual journey southward is one of large ad- 



