1000. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Birding In Early Spring. 
Few people are wholly indifferent to 
the return of the birds after the dreary 
reign of Winter. There may be noth¬ 
ing inspiring in the clangor of wild 
geese, falling from leaden, wind-swept 
skies, nor in the sight of a few shiver¬ 
ing robins, lunching on frozen apples 
in the orchard, but back of this is the 
assurance of bursting buds and all the 
witchery of Spring. Even the great city 
dailies make note of the first bluebirds 
and robins seen in the parks; the an¬ 
nouncement may be tucked away in an 
obscure corner, quite overshadowed by 
the description of the new prima 
donna and her appearance in the opera, 
but it is there; and having duly ushered 
in Spring and Mine. De Friski almost 
in the same breath, the mighty organs 
of the press return to their political 
squabbles with proper zest. We who 
live in the country cannot pass 
the coming 
They are 
a 
cannot pass over 
of the birds so lightly, 
our neighbors and helpers, 
nd deserve our warmest gratitude. If 
a doubt is entertained as to whether 
they are glad to get back, watch that 
catbird that has just returned to his 
old haunts in the hedgerow back of 
the garden. See his antics as he ex¬ 
plores the well-remembered syringa 
bush! He acts like a boy let out of 
boarding school. When his human ac¬ 
quaintances appear he follows from tree 
to tree, cutting shines like a little darky 
clown, and calling out as plainly as a 
bird can, “Say, look here! Don’t you 
see me? I’m back! Whoop!’’ lo be 
tire, he is only a catbird, and he some¬ 
times steals fruit, but I wish that his 
detractors could watch a pair of these 
birds throughout the nesting season as 
I did last Summer. The nest was hid¬ 
den in a tangle of climbing honeysuckle 
near the garden gate. When some one 
made a move in the direction of the 
garden, a little drab sentinel would in¬ 
stantly appear on the fence, silently 
watching with sharp, black eyes until 
the suspicious person passed on. The 
old birds never made a fuss when the 
nest was examined by members of the 
family, but when, one day. a cat at¬ 
tempted to climb into the honeysuckle 
thicket, both darted into her face with 
angry cries, and so pluckil.y did they 
defend their home that the marauder 
was glad to drop to the ground and 
scud out of sight. There was a planta¬ 
tion of luscious red raspberries just 
over the fence, but they seldom molested 
them or the cherries, but they helped 
themselves freely to the mulberries on a 
tree on the opposite side of the house. 
In short, my observation tallied with 
the report of the ornithologists of. the 
United States Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, which declares that in most sec¬ 
tions of the country, the catbird does 
far more good than harm, as he de¬ 
stroys many injurious insects while 
only one-third of the vegetable food that 
he eats consists of cultivated fruit. 
While only a few species seem to 
invite our inspection by locating their 
homes about our doors, we may obtain 
a bowing acquaintance with the shyer 
sorts, learn to distinguish their songs 
and call notes, and gain some insight 
into their habits. Early Spring is. the 
proper time to begin such observations, 
for the birds are then at their best in 
voice and plumage. The most retiring 
forget their timidity in the mating 
season; even the little chewink or 
ground robin that never leaves his 
covert in the undergrowth once the 
nesting has begun, springs up into a 
tree and trills his love notes, care¬ 
less who sees or hears him. Wild 
geese, gulls, and shore larks often ap¬ 
pear in February, but the tide of mig¬ 
ration really begins in the first warm 
days of Spring with the robins and blue¬ 
birds. Soon one can hardly step out 
of doors without hearing a new note 
or catching the flash of a wing un¬ 
seen before. Now it is the song spar¬ 
row, whose simple, touching strain 
thrills the listener; anon the martial 
tattoo of the sapsucker resounds through 
the orchard; or that prince of singers, 
the purple finch “warbles his native 
wood notes wild,” from a high perch 
in the roadside elm. There are chor¬ 
uses, too, that are well worth going 
out of one’s way to hear; the junco 
isn’t much of a vocalist truly, but 
some bright Easter morning one may 
chance to hear a song of thanksgiving, 
of peace on earth, good will to men, 
trilled from a hundred little gray 
throats that is as impressive as the 
praises offered by hired singers in the 
churches; as a sure cure for the dumps 
T would prescribe a visit to the meadow 
where a score of gay bachelor bobo¬ 
links are practising their trills and 
quavers against the time when their 
russet ladyloves shall appear. One is 
certain to return with the conviction 
that life is worth living after all— 
for a bobolink beau. 
Several of our finest singers, among 
them the white-throated and fox spar¬ 
rows, and the ruby-crowned kinglet, are 
transient visitors which must be heard 
in Spring if at all; they soon pass on 
to nest in the North, and when they 
return in the Autumn are nearly silent. 
The last to come are the warblers, most 
of which appear in May. Some bright 
morning, particularly after a rain, the 
orchard may be alive with numbers of 
these restless, diminutive strangers, 
each intent on a breakfast of aphides 
and other small insects. Then the 
budding naturalist hurries out to observe 
her elusive guests for they are here 
to-day and gone to-morrow, and among 
them may be the rare species that she 
has hitherto looked for in vain. The 
rural telephone and daily mail deliv¬ 
ery have lessened the isolation and mo¬ 
notony of farm life, but there are in¬ 
stances in which these improvements 
have not bettered the condition of the 
they are supposed to benefit. Rural 
free delivery brings a flood of cheap, 
frothy literature to the farmer’s door 
that might ■ better be kept out of the 
house. Not long ago I heard a neigh¬ 
bor tell of a visit she paid to a relative 
in a back country district. The fam¬ 
ily had the usual rural telephone, being 
one of a dozen subscribers on a party 
line. As often as there was a call on 
the circuit the hostess hurried to the 
telephone and applied the receiver to 
her ear; if her guest happened to be 
in the middle of a sentence, she would 
shake a warning finger and whisper ov ~r 
her shoulder, “S-h-h, I want to hear 
what they say.” This woman had no 
malevolent purpose in her eavesdropping. 
She lived a lonely existence, which 
engendered a morbid existence in her 
neighbors’ affairs. How changed this 
state of things might be had she in¬ 
terested herself instead in a wholesome 
outdoor hohby. I believe every woman 
and child in the country should have 
such a hobby. Plenty of innocent fun 
may be had from any of them, but 
birding is one of the best, because it 
requires no study or preparation and 
may be practised every day in the year. 
The only requirement is a good book 
of reference; a notebook and opera 
glass are helpful but not indispensable. 
There is no age limit for the nature 
student. I know a lady who began the 
study of the wild flowers of her neigh¬ 
borhood when nearly 60 years old; she 
found more than 200 species. Get the 
children together and make bird stu¬ 
dents of them. They will supply en¬ 
thusiasm if this be lacking; and en¬ 
thusiasm, as a veteran nature writer 
has remarked, “is worth more than 
money and learning put together as a 
promoter of happiness. 
M. E. COLEGROVE. 
Cash 
Take 
or 
Your 
Credit 
Choice 
Wm Thompson, V. P. & G. M. 
ends 
Plain Puddings. 
Bread and Jam Pudding.—Measure 
half a pint of soaked bread, beaten 
smooth with a fork or passed through 
a colander; add one tablespoonful of 
corn flour (cornstarch), first mixed 
with half a pint of milk and boiled for 
a few minutes. Beat the whole until 
cool, then stir in one egg, spread a 
little jam at the bottom of a greased 
pie dish, pour in the bread mixture 
and bake in a moderate oven for half 
an hour. Alternate layers of the jam 
and bread mixture make a “jam sand¬ 
wich pudding,” which is very nice. 
Orange Roly-Poly.—Make a light 
pastry as for apple dumplings. Roll 
out thin in an oblong sheet, and on 
it lay slices of orange with a sprinkle 
of sugar. Scatter some grated orange 
peel in with the sugar. Roll up 
dough, pinching the 
closely to prevent the 
Place in the steamer in 
and steam for an hour, 
desired sauce. 
Nut Pudding.—Cream one-fourth cup 
butter, one-half cup sugar and beat into 
this half a cup of chopped nuts. Beat 
the yolks of two eggs light and add. to 
the mixture with half a cup of milk. 
Sift two cups of pastry flour with three 
level teaspoons of baking powder and 
add to the mixture, beating thoroughly. 
Add last the stiff whites of eggs and 
a pinch of salt. Steam in greased cups 
half an hour. Serve with the following 
chocolate sauce: Cream one-fourth cup 
butter and half cup sugar sifted with 
two tablespoons of cornstarch, add two 
squares of chocolate grated, a pint of 
boiling water, a fourth of a saltspoon- 
ful of cinnamon and a very small pinch 
of salt. Let this boil for ten min¬ 
utes, then strain and serve. 
the 
together 
juice escaping, 
a covered dish 
Serve with any 
May I Quote Our Factory Price On ” A Kalamazoo 
Direct To you?” 
I WANT to save you 30 cents on every dollar of your stove 
money. Selling: and shipping direct from our Factory to 
you at Factory price-plus our small manufacturing profit 
—saves you at least 30c on the dollar from what you would 
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Perhaps we can save you more. It depends on the style of 
range or stove you choose. 
We have proven the saving to thousands and thousands of 
stove buyers throughout the United States. But the saving of 
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We’ve been in the stove manufacturing business too long— 
and our square dealing is too well known to make an offer to 
save you 30c on the dollar if we could not do it. 
I Want To Sell You Just The Stove 
You Want For Cash Or Credit 
Our Selling Plan heretofore has been for cash—but we’ve 
often had letters from people saying that they would like to 
take advantage of our money-saving prices, believing that we 
could give them just the stove or range they wanted, but that as a matter of convenience 
to them for the time being, they wanted to buy their stove on charge account, conse¬ 
quently they have given their order to their local dealer—even though they had to pay a 
mUC Wewant your’order—whether you are a cash buyer or whether you want to buy on 
credit charge account—consequently we will give you your choice. Responsible people 
can buy a “Kalamazoo Direct to You” on either plan. Suit your own convenience—and 
make the saving our factory price to you direct enables you to make. 
I Want To Give You 360 Days’ Approval 
Test On Your Stove Or Range 
This is the plan we’ve followed for years. We’ve 
shipped over a hundred thousand Kalamazoo Stoves and 
Ranges direct from factory to users on 360 Days’ Approval 
Test. 360 Days is a long time to test a stove. Surely any 
defects must show up in that length of time. If any range 
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we’ll take it back and refund all of the money you have paid 
us. No other range or stove manufacturer in the United 
States makes this liberal offer. 
It’s impossible for you to buy a range or stove from a 
local dealer on this plan, yet we’ve conducted our business ... T , 
along this line for years, and shall continue to as long as we are in business. Its the 
most satisfactory plan and the surest way of givingevery customer absolute satisfaction. 
I Pay All Freight Charges and Guarantee Safe Delivery 
Our Stoves and Ranges are all priced delivered at your station—all charges prepaid. 
You know exactly what you’ve got to pay for your stove when you order from us 
and there will be no freight charges to pay when the stove arrives at your station—thus 
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satisfactory one, both to ourselves and our customers. 
I Want to Send You Our Big 
Oieu Thermoia«tiir 
Free Factory Stove Book 
ol 
Showing Over 300 Different Styles and Prices 
Of Ranges—Cook Stoves—Heating Stoves and 
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It's Impossible In an advertisement to tell yon about our complete 
line orabout ourSeliing Plan, but It is all fully explained in our Book. 
I want to pay the postage on this book to you—have you take It and sit 
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William Thompson, V.-P. & Gen’l Mgr. 
Kalamazoo Stove Company 
KaJamrzoo, Mich. 
J I jonp OUT Low-priced, 3-lb. Mop: turn 
* crank to wring ; clean hands. 
Women ail buy : 150$ to Agents ; catalog free. 
11. S. MOP CO., 445 Main Street, Leipsic, O. 
Men's iSu its 
and 
Youths’ 
AND OVERCOATS 
MADE TO ORDER 
$10.22 to $18.22. 
CLOTHING 
MADE TO ORDER 
AT THE MILL 
J3uy your clothing direct from 
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Material, workmanship and fit 
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Express charzes paid east of the 
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made on all orders West of the 
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cloth and style Book. 
GLEN ROCK WOOLEN C0„ 
203 MAIN ST., SOMERVILLE, N. J. 
FOR OUT DOOR WORK 
IN THE WETTEST WEATHER 
NOTHING EQUALS 
waterproof 
' OiXJED 
GARMENTS 
LOOK. WELL- WEAR WELL 
AND WILL NOT LEAK. 
LONG COATS-*352 
SUITS *352 
SOLO EVERYWHERE 
CATALOG FREE 
A. J.Tower Co. boston, u^a. 
Tower Canadian Co. limited -Toronto, can. 
30 9 
We Supply the U. S. 
Government. 
Prices Cut in Half 
this season. Our large 
new 104-page Band in¬ 
strument catalog Sent 
FREE. Write to-day. 
THE RUDOLPH WliRLiTZfR CO. 
1T8 E.4th St. Clncinnatbor, 
349 Wabash AVc. Chicago,111. 
if 
FUMA 
55. kills Prairie Dogs, 
Woodchucks, Gophers, 
and Grain Insects. 
"The wheels of the gods 
grind slow but exceed¬ 
ingly small.” So the weevil, but you can stop their 
wui! “ Fuma Carbon Bisulphide *8* 
EDWAllD 11. TAYLOR, Penn Yan, N. Y. 
HANDY BINDER 
J UST the thing for preserving files of 
The Rural New-Yorker. Durable 
and cheap. Sent postpaid for 25 cents. 
c Ihe RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
409 Pearl Street, New York City. 
