TABLE OF CONTENTS

I
Gray Lady Appears[1]
II
A Rainy Day—The school at Foxes Corners at the beginning of the fall term.[9]
III
Gray Lady at School—The bird. What is it? To whom does it belong? The bird year—The migrations, the moulting, etc.[18]
IV
The Orchard Party—The children’s luncheon and the bird’s lunch-counter. Gray Lady makes a plan.[38]
V
Reasons Why—Why birds need protection. The uses of birds. What they do for us and what we should do for them—housing, feeding, etc.[51]
VI
Feathers and Hats—Egrets and Ostrich plumes—The wrong and the right of it.[67]
VII
The Kind Hearts’ Club—The work that kept the Fingers busy so that the Ears might listen.[81]
VIII
The Procession Passes—The fall journey—Five Swallows and a changeling.[89]
IX
Two Birds that came Back—The Tame Crow and the English Starling.[102]
X
Some Mischief-Makers—The American Crow, Blue Jay, and Purple Grackle.[114]
XI
The Flight of the Bird—The wonders of flight. Some new facts about the migrations of birds.[136]
XII
Some Suspicious Characters—Hawks and Owls—Two sides of the question.[154]
XIII
Tree-trunk Birds—The Woodpeckers—Sapsucker, Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, etc.[175]
XIV
Four Notables—Game-birds at home—The Ruffed Grouse, Bob-white, Woodcock, and the Wood Duck.[197]
XV
Game-Birds?—The plea of the Meadowlark, Mourning Dove, Sandpiper, Plovers, and Bobolink, the Masquerader. “Spare us, please! We are too small for food.”[217]
XVI
Treasure-trove at the Shore—The Herring or Harbour Gull.[229]
XVII
The Birds’ Christmas Tree—The preparation and a surprise. The Winter Wren, Tree-sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Crossbills.[242]
XVIII
How they spent their Money—The result of the Xmas sale and the Letter Carrier’s horse.[254]
XIX
Behind the Bars—American birds that have been prisoners.—The Mockingbird, Cardinal, Nonpareil, and Indigo-bird.[270]
XX
Midwinter Birds—Cedar-Bird, Redpoll, Junco, Shrike, Whitethroat, Chickadee, etc.[293]
XXI
Jacob Hughes’ Opinion of Cats—The trail in the snow and the bandits that lived in the barn.[303]
XXII
February, “The Long-Short Month”—Stories and poems of the Bluebird, Song Sparrow, and Robin.[310]
XXIII
March—Red-wing, Kingfisher, and Phœbe.[333]
XXIV
The Tide has Turned—Wild Geese, Nest-Building, Vesper-Sparrow, Purple Finch, Chippy, Whip-poor-will, Towhee, Ovenbird, House Wren, Thrasher, Catbird, Wood Thrush, Veery, Nighthawk, Chimney Swift, etc.[355]
XXV
Bird and Arbour Day at Foxes Corners—In doors and out—Working and talking.[385]
XXVI
Some Birds that come in May—In apple-blossom time look for the brightly coloured birds—Oriole, Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo-bird, Yellowthroat, Chat, Humming-bird, Redstart, etc.[403]
XXVII
Flag Day—Gray Lady receives and gives a surprise.[431]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

COLOURED PLATES
Baltimore Oriole[Frontispiece]
FACING PAGE
Scarlet Tanager[34]
Blue Jay[129]
Wood Duck[214]
Killdeer[224]
Indigo Bunting[280]
Cardinal[286]
Bluebird[314]
Red-winged Blackbird[334]
Belted Kingfisher[340]
American Goldfinch[422]
Rose-breasted Grosbeak[426]
FULL-PAGE HALF-TONES
Feeding the Orphans[vi]
Chickadee[26]
Snowy Heron[66]
Clipping Ostrich Plumes[74]
Purple Martin[96]
Bird-houses and Nesting-boxes[106]
Terns and Skimmers on the Wing[142]
Golden Plover[148]
The Wings in Flight[152]
Red-shouldered Hawk[154]
Screech Owl[158]
Barn Owl[166]
Short-eared Owl[168]
Marsh Hawk[170]
Sparrow Hawk[174]
White-breasted Nuthatch[178]
Flicker[190]
Downy Woodpecker[194]
Ruffed Grouse[198]
Just Out[200]
Domesticated Bob-white Calling[202]
Grouse showing Ruff and Tail[206]
Woodcock on Nest[212]
Meadowlark[218]
Mourning Doves[220]
Spotted Sandpiper[222]
Least Sandpiper[224]
Herring Gulls[232]
Tree-Sparrow[248]
Shelter for Bird Food[250]
Robin[326]
Nighthawks[370]
Chimney Swift Resting[374]
Wood Thrush and Nest[378]
Catbird on Nest[384]
Yellow-billed Cuckoo[404]
Red-eyed Vireo on Nest[406]

GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS

I
GRAY LADY APPEARS

Sarah Barnes hurried up the hill road so fast that by the time she reached the short bit of lane that turned in at her own gate she was quite out of breath, and oh, so warm! Fanning vigorously with her sun-hat did not help her much, for its wide rim had a rent in it, made by Jack, the family puppy, so that when she reached the steps of the porch, she sank down in a heap, only having breath enough to exclaim, “Oh, grandma, what do you think?”