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RECREATION 



THE SONS OF DANIEL BOONE. 



Some of you are subjects of King Edward 

 and some subjects of no ruler, each and 

 every one being a little King Edward him- 

 self, in other words, a citizen of the United 

 States. But whether we owe allegiance to 

 the brave old British lion or the fierce 

 American eagle makes little difference, we 

 are all boys together and are going to unite 

 in one brotherhood for the preservation of 

 our brothers in fur, scales, feathers and 

 bark. 



Let me tell you that when you are united 

 and each lad working for the cause, you will 

 find that even President Roosevelt, and King 

 Edward will be more than glad to serve you 

 and earn your support and commendation, 

 for those men know that the boys of to-day 

 are the men of to-morrow. 



Form yourselves at once into local branch- 

 es and write to me and I will see that there 

 is an appropriate badge, constitution and 

 by-laws made for the organization, and will 

 also devote this department to your service 

 and entertainment. Let me hear from you 

 immediately, so that we may have a good 

 start before the season is spent. Then ho 

 for the woods and the canoeing company 

 and fishing excursions of the brave Sons 

 of Daniel Boone, and when we grow strong 

 enough in numbers, we will hold a CON- 

 VENTION of delegates from each branch 

 and do things which will make the grown- 

 up men sit up and take notice. 



DO WILD BIRDS TALK ENGLISH? 



Dear Mr. Beard : 



Dear Sir — I see in books on Nature, and 

 even scientific books, certain words and 

 phrases attributed to birds. In your opinion, 

 do they ever speak unless like the poll par- 

 rots, they are taught? Please answer. 



Lon Thrasher, Nelson, B. C. 



<To. Wild birds do not use our language, 

 but by the use of a little imagination we can 

 make it appear to us that they do. Of 

 course, a Frenchman would make them talk 

 French and a Spaniard Spanish, but we put 

 the sounds in English, as it serves us to iden- 

 tify the birds by their notes and often, as in 

 the case of Bob White, gives the bird its 

 name. 



The blue jay is a great elocutionist and 

 gives utterance to many unlooked-for re- 

 marks, but the one most often heard in the 

 woods relates to the possession of a chee- 

 tidley-enk] just exactly what sort of a crea- 

 ture or thing this is no one can tell, but 

 whenever I am in the wood I hear the jays 

 exclaim "chee-tidley-enk — got him:" To 

 which the meadow lark in the pasture clear- 

 ing replies, "Oh-so-cheap," with a most sar- 

 castic drawl on the so and an inflection on 



the cheap. As a rule the meadow lark says 

 his say while perched on a fence post and he 

 talks with his mouth wide open. There are 

 a lot of little people in the thickets who are 

 always in such a hurry and talk so fast that 

 it is difficult to tell what they say. There is 

 that gayly colored little fellow, the red start, 

 crying "T-wet wee-whee-whe-whisett," and 

 the dainty summer yellow bird, who has 

 something to say in the same line and much 

 in the same manner. What he wants is wheat 

 and although he never eats it his constant cry 

 is "Wheat, wheat, zvheat, T'weat wheat, 

 wheat, wheat!" 



The chestnut-sided warbler must be think- 

 ing of the sound he hears at the trout brook 

 when the fisherman makes a long cast far 

 down in the swale I heard him exclaim : 



Whishl Whishl Whish! zvhis, whis, whis! 

 Up and down the tree trunks the prettily 

 marked black and white creeper runs, then of 

 a sudden flits to the small end of a branch 

 and in creeper language tells you how good 

 he feels. 



"Chee wee, ewcet, eweet, eweet!" is what 

 he says "and the Maryland yellow-throat all 

 arrayed for a masquerade ball with a black 

 velvet mask answers : Tw'-wi'-cheete, we- 

 cheat, we-cheat, we-cheat, we-cheat, we- 

 cheat, too!" Of course he does not mean 

 for one to understand that he is a real swin- 

 dler, but he probably thinks that the black 

 mask disguises him and thus he is cheating 

 you 'by hiding his identity. 



But these little folk all talk very much 

 alike and it is a relief to hear the clearly 

 enunciated words of the brown thrasher. 

 He is a handsome long-tailed fellow and 

 sings with deliberation; his throat does not 

 swell like a canary when it sings. The 

 brown thrasher talks with a mouth action 

 much the same as a human being, turning 

 his head from side to side as he sings. His 

 favorite perch is the top-most branch of a 

 tree at the edge of a pasture or field and 

 there you may hear him cry : 



Quick! Quick! Quick! 

 Look a-here, look a-here! 



There, there. 

 Yellow link, yellow link; 

 Pretty bird, pretty bird! 

 Wheat oh, zvheat oh! 



Tweet, tweet! 

 Tu-r-r-r, zv-r-r-r 

 Whe-ah-whec-ah! 



If the trail gets a little hard or if you get 

 the "blues" climb up to our office and we 

 will let you read some of the letters we get 

 from our boys. You will be surprised and de- 

 lighted at the true and gentle touch of these 

 young readers. Their little stories, crudely 

 told, will take you back to the green fields 

 and the old woods of youth. 



