INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS.
Sparrows pay a flying visit, and the Red-breasted Nuthatches settle down. Even if there has been no hard frost, November is sure to bring it, and then in the afterglow, the illusive Indian summer, we begin to realize that the song-birds have left us. Grackles we have and Meadowlarks, but the Robins and Bluebirds are diminishing, and after the middle of November the birds that you see may safely be called winter residents.
The Blue Jay becomes very conspicuous now, and in late November walks you will constantly see his pointed crest, while his harsh notes no longer jar upon your ear, but sound companionable. Most likely leis nutting, and jeering and laughing at the squirrels who are filling their paunches under the same tree. If, however, "he laughs best who laughs last," the squirrels have decidedly the best of it, for they frequently find the holes where the Jays hide their plunder and rob them.
Golden-crowned Kinglets, with their dainty little heads on one side, peep into every crevice in the apple trees, giving a shrill, wiry call, the Winter Wrens are settled in their old quarters about the woodpile, Pine Warblers come in bustling flocks, White-throated Sparrows appear at rare intervals, and three, at least, of the Woodpeckers.
If December is moderately snowy and not too cold, you will see a distinet change even among the winter residents. The Horned Larks become quite tame, and together with the Meadowlarks keep near the upland farms, and if the rivers are free from ice the Kingfisher still constitutes himself their guardian. The Tree Sparrow takes the place that the Chipping Sparrow filled in summer, resembling it both in appearance and note, and the Cedar-birds come from their warm coverts and feast upon the remaining berries which are now completely ripe and soft.
The Shrike is in his element seeing his victims afar through the leafless trees, the Hawks grow bold and circle over the meadows by the hour, and the Barred Owl, with strange blue-black eyes, leaves the wood with the Great Horned Owl, to forage in the brush and in open pastures.
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