OSCAR BIRD WARREN. 83 
study of birds cannot be found in all the catalogue of pleas- 
ures. Birds have been my friends.since childhood, and many 
of my most pleasant hours have been spent in their com- 
panionship. So varied in form and coloring are they, so un- 
like in disposition and habits, with so much of airy life in 
their fairy beings, they ever invite and hold my attention. 
In temperate seasons, awakening me by their morning mel- 
odies, they accompany me in walks and rambles, visit me 
while at work, enliven the beautiful summer hours, and 
brighten the dreary days of aytumn. Even when Boreas 
sends his chilling breath over the land, driving the avian 
hosts southward, some stanch and hardy friends remain, and 
others come from the wild northland to spend the winter 
months. Never is a day so cold as to daunt the courage of 
the merry Black-capped Chickadee, or of his cousin, the Red- 
bellied Nuthatch ; they are seen throughout the year. Scarce- 
ly is there a day in winter on which the Blue Jay will not 
be seen about our houses, gathering up waste scraps of food. 
A few Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers spend the whole 
winter with us, making friendly visits to the ash pile or to 
bones provided for them, for which they are always grateful. 
Occasionally an Owl is driven by hunger to the poultry 
house. Pine Grosbeaks and Crossbills come to feed on the 
mountain-ash berries; flocks of rosy Redpolls strip the birches 
of their catkins and glean the seeds from weeds and grasses. 
Scores of cheery Snowflakes drop down from leaden clouds 
to tell us of the approaching snow storm, a few of these 
storm messengers remaining about the barns all winter feed- 
ing on grass seed and wasted grain. ; 
Under changed conditions birds behave in very different 
ways, all of which are interesting and worthy of the most 
careful observation. When will we learn all the ins and outs 
of the common Blue Jay? How little, in fact, we know about 
his many characteristics. In this northern land, throughout 
the winter months, Jays remain about the houses, picking 
up food of all kinds and qualities. They are most numerous 
