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OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE WISCONSIN, ILLINOIS AND MICHIGAN AUDUBON SOCIETIES 
[if 
One Year 25 Cents 
Single Copy 5 Cents 
Published by the Wisconsin Audubon Society at Madison, Wisconsin 
Entered as second class matter August 23, 1909, at Madison, Wis., under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879 
VOL,. XIII. 
APRILrMA Y, 1912 
NO. 8 f $ 
NATURE STUDY AND BIRD LORE 
By L. Skavlem 
Among our old-time friends that are 
winter birds there may be especially ob¬ 
served four or five species that seem to 
be holding their own. They are insect- 
eaters and during the winter they sub¬ 
sist mostly upon hibernating insects, 
their larve and eggs. The hairy and 
: downy woodpecker appear to be as com¬ 
mon now as thirty years ago, and the 
laugh of the odd little nuthatch can be 
heard on almost any clear, cold day in 
the parks or streets where our trees 
have not yet been wholly destroyed by 
the electricwire nuisance. 
A little troupe of chickadees is not a 
j rare sight to an observer knowing where 
to seek them. These birds are all tree 
habitants and unless the observer is in¬ 
timately acquainted with their haunts, 
the chances are that he will seldom see 
one. This is also the case with regard 
to our Spring and Fall migrating birds. 
The great army of warblers and fly¬ 
catchers that are with us in an endless 
though ever-changing procession from 
early Spring days until summer is here 
to stay, and again from early Fall until 
King winter hold full sway,—they are 
seldom seen by the unobserving. 
The impudent sparrow and confiding 
robin, who enjoys the shower-bath of 
your lawn-sprinkler, compel recognition, 
while a scolding jay or an occasional 
flicker intent on making a square meal 
out of my friends, the ants, are put 
down as occasional visitors. 
There are at least six weeks in Spring, 
and as many in the Fall—three months 
in the year and the very time of year 
in which outdoor life is most enjoyable 
—that we have, at a conservative esti¬ 
mate, a hundred times, and sometimes 
many a hundred times more birds with 
us than the sum total of sparrows, rob¬ 
ins, jays and flickers. 
A bird-lover who would study the 
creatures must keep notice of them even 
when the leaves have not yet opened. 
He will find that among his first ac¬ 
quaintances will be Regulus— 4 4 the little 
king”—of whom there are two species. 
One of these species wears a golden 
crown, the other a ruby. They are ex¬ 
ceedingly busy, hardly ever at rest, and 
to get a glimpse at their crown the ob¬ 
server must be on the spot when they 
are hanging upside down on some twig. 
From the middle of April, on through 
May and June, he will be astonished 
to find such a variety of bird-life. The 
scarlet tanager and golden robin have 
attracted attention by their bright and 
distinctive plumage, but he would per¬ 
haps see for the first time the flash of the 
American redstart, flitting to and fro 
in the topmost branches of our tallest 
