42 
BY THE WAYS JDK 
ing him by thrusting her long slender 
bill so far down his tiny throat we feared 
to see it come out ol the other end ol him. 
But he was not afraid nor squeamish 
about swallowing anew the morsels his 
mother pumped up for him from some¬ 
where in her own interior. We were 
not there when he flew, and this was an¬ 
other disappointment. But we had seen 
more of humming bird life than most 
bird students see in one summer and 
were very grateful. We never caught a 
glimpse of the father of the family. He 
is somewhat noted as a shirk, though his 
wife may prefer not to have him bother¬ 
ing about the house. But he helped not 
at all in the building of the one nest, or 
feeding the voungster in the other. 
E. D. R. 
A Children's Christmas Bird Census. 
Have vou ever heard of Bird-Lore's 
%/ 
Christmas Bird Census? Since Bird-Lore 
invites grown-ups to take an annual cen¬ 
sus of the birds, why should not By The 
Wayside do the same for the young peo¬ 
ple of Wisconsin and Illinois? 
We celebrate Christmas with trees. 
Do we not usually think of birds as liv¬ 
ing in trees; then why not extend our in¬ 
terest.at that season to take in birds also? 
Can you imagine what a bird census is? 
You know what a census ol people is; 
how the census-taker comes to the door 
of each house and asks how many live 
there and what their names are; thus is 
learned the number of people who live 
in a town or state and who they are. We 
will do the same with the birds. They 
will not be plenty ,by Christmas time, 
but we will go out to their homes in the 
woods, the fields and even the parks. 
We will see how many are about and 
who they are. Of course I cannot ex¬ 
pect you to give up Christmas day to this 
occupation, but choose some day between 
Christmas and New Years, take a long 
tramp with your eyes wide open and per¬ 
haps an opera glass to help them, and 
see how many birds you can discover; 
then write about it to By The W ayside. 
Before leaving home notice what time 
it is, and again upon returning. Make 
a note of both time and temperature. 
If you have no thermometer, mention 
whether it is mild or cold, also whether 
clear, cloudy, etc. 
When vour report comes to me it 
should be something after this order: 
Evanston, Ill—December 27; time, 
9:30 a. m. to 1 p. m. Cloudy, ground 
bare; wind north-west, moderate; tem¬ 
perature, 35°; Herring Gull, a great many; 
Chickadee, 2. Name and age. or 
City? Wis-—December 31; time, 10 a. 
m. to 12 m; 2:30 to 4 p. m. Clear, followed 
by snow flurries; ground covered with 
snow; wind west, brisk; temperature, 26°; 
Downy Woodpecker, 2; Brown Creeper, 1; 
White-breasted Nuthatch, 1; Chickadee, 
4. Total, species, 4; individuals, 8. Name 
and age. 
If vou see birds on some other dav 
•/ * 
during that week besides the one on 
which you set out to see them, let me 
know about it, always remembeiing as 
much about time and weather as you 
can. 
These lists may be sent this month, 
from Wisconsin to Miss Marshall, and 
from Illinois Miss Goodrich. The prize 
list will not necessarily be the longest 
but the one which shows the most care 
ful observation. Write down no bird 
which you are not perfectly sure of hav- 
A 
ing identified. 
In this same number of Bird-Lore you 
will find short descriptions of some of 
the birds which have been seen other 
years at Christmas time in Wisconsin 
and Illinois. 
