Part 7

February Twenty-eighth

The Carolina wren is the largest member of the wren family in the Eastern United States. It breeds sparingly in Southern New York and New England, but is common about Washington, D. C., where it is a resident. It is found in the forests, thickets, and undergrowth along streams and lakes. Mr. Hoffman says that its song "is so loud and clear that it can be heard easily a quarter of a mile."

Notes

=March=

March First

A lady once asked me how to destroy the "insect eggs" on the under side of fern leaves. The ferns are flowerless plants, and they produce spores instead of seeds. Usually the spores are arranged in dotted lines, on the underside of the leaves (or fronds as they are called), and these are the "insect eggs" the lady referred to.

March Second

Even at this early date the female great-horned owl or hoot owl, in some sections of the country, is searching for a place to build her nest. She usually selects an abandoned hawk's or a crow's nest, and after laying her four chalky-white eggs, she is often compelled to sit on them most of the night to prevent them from freezing.

March Third

A question that is often asked is, what do the early migrating birds eat, when the ground is frozen and insect life is still slumbering. If you knew where to look, you would find many of the fruit-trees and vines filled with dried, or frozen fruit. Frozen apples and mountain-ash berries constitute a large part of the robin's and the cedar-bird's food early in the spring, and the bluebirds and cedar-birds eat the shriveled barberry fruit.

Notes

March Fourth

In Florida, the black bear can get food throughout the entire year, but in the North he is compelled to hibernate during the winter. He is now beginning to think of leaving his den (in a cave, crevice of the rocks, or under the roots of a partially upturned tree) to begin his summer vacation. We are apt to think that bears are poor when they leave the den, but this is not always true, although their pelage does get very much worn from coming in contact with protuberances in their winter quarters.

March Fifth

The first plant to thrust its head above ground and proclaim the coming of spring is the skunk cabbage, or swamp cabbage. Even before the snow has entirely left, the plant will melt a hole and by its own warmth keep itself from freezing. In many localities at this date the leathery hoods are several inches above the ground.

March Sixth

In America the cowbird, like the European cuckoo, lays its eggs in the nests of other birds. All of our American cuckoos build their nests and raise their young in a manner creditable to parents.

Notes

March Seventh

Clinging to the cliffs and rocks in the forests, the dark green leathery leaves of the polypody fern are nearly as fresh and green as when first snowed under. Hunt among the clusters until you find a fertile frond, then examine the back of it and see how closely together the spores are placed.

March Eighth

We will awaken some morning to find that during the night the song sparrows have arrived from the South; not all of them, to be sure, but just a few that are anxious to push North and begin nesting. All winter their merry song has been hushed, but now it gushes forth, not to stop again until the molting season in August.

March Ninth

A porcupine should never be called a hedgehog. The hedgehog, an insectivorous animal, inhabiting Europe, is not found in the Western Hemisphere. It rolls itself into a ball when attacked, and the spines, which do not come out, are shorter, duller, and less formidable than those of the porcupine.

EUROPEAN HEDGEHOG]

Notes

March Tenth

People, knowing that the robin is an early spring arrival, are always alert to see or hear the first one. Consequently the first song that catches their ear is supposed to be that of a robin, whereas often it is the spring song of the white-breasted nuthatch, which really has no resemblance to the robin's song.