562 
A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
cap of bright orange bordered with black, and whitish under 
parts. This is the Golden-Crowned Kinglet, from the north. 
Its friend is an inch longer and has a back of bluish gray 
streaked with black, and ornamented with four small, yellow 
patches, one on the crown, one on the rump, and one on each 
side of the breast. It is the Myrtle Warbler. At this season 
these spots are not as clear as in spring, but the rump spot is 
quite distinct. You will need to become acquainted with this 
bird, because he will be about all winter. 
What is that mite in dark brown feathers with a short pert 
tail, that is playing hide and seek about the woodpile? The 
Winter Wren, surely, Jennie Wren’s little cousin, and just as 
amusing as she, even if a bit more shy. These days you will 
see the Hawks sailing above and calling, and the Hoot and 
Screech Owls will come nearer the house. Do not shoot at 
them ; only the Great Horned Owl of lonely places does harm. 
The smaller ones hunt the ground mice from the gardens and 
fields ; if vou do not believe me look under the tree where these 
birds roost, and you will often find little balls made of the fur 
and bones of hurtful rodents that the owl could not digest and 
so spat up. 
If you live near a large pond or salt marsh tract you may 
see Ducks and Geese settling at night to rest either on the 
water or among the weeds, or possibly you may chance upon 
a great Heron standing in a pool fishing, or hear a Loon give 
his laughing cry, or see a Grebe, that at a little distance you 
may mistake for a duck, dive, and, in a flash, come to the sur- 
face of the water a hundred feet away. 
The Herring Gulls are also back from their breeding places, 
and chatter noisily as they gather on the sandbars or move out 
in a body to feed. 
The yellow, blackcapped Goldfinches of summer are now 
greenish-brown, but you can tell them by their dipping flight. 
If suddenly a flock of them scatters in great alarm, ten to one 
either a swift Sharp-shinned Hawk has dashed among them 
or else a Shrike or Butcher Bird, who, though not a Hawk, 
has a powerful head and cruel hooked beak. 
At this time the birds of summer have slipped away — but 
it only serves to make those who remain of more importance 
until at last when Thanksgiving Day comes, if there has 
been hard frost, even the Woodcock, Redwings, Grackles, 
