There are many others that would prove beneficial, but these three are almost indispensable, if we would learn the ways of our wild bird friends and what we can do to help them.
It is understood that every family of bird lovers will be subscribers to Bird-Lore, for few would be willing to miss the interesting bits of information to be found in every number of this bird magazine.
Selections from Bird-Lore, the Audubon Leaflets, books on Nature by standard authors, and occasionally articles from some of the popular magazines, might be read at each meeting. This will prove a very interesting part of the program, and there will always be material enough to fill out any schedule.
Good plates of birds like those obtained with the Audubon Leaflets and the set published with the ‘Birds of New York’ will help in identifications, and, as the cost is very small, every club should have at least one set of each.
If we can get our clubs once started along these lines, it seems possible that it might become more of a problem to find time for everything than to find something to do.
One year’s course in a bird club of this kind should give every member a fairly good knowledge of what we can do for the birds, and what they are doing for us.—W. M. Buswell, Superintendent Meriden, (N. H.) Bird Club.
Ornithological Possibilities of a Bit of Swamp-Land
For several years, I have had a bit of swamp-land under my eye, especially during the cooler months. It is not exactly a beauty-spot, being bordered by ragged backyards, city dumps, a small tannery, and a dismantled factory, formerly used by a company engaged in cleaning hair for plasterers’ use.
A part of the surface is covered by cat-tails, the rest by a mixed growth of water-loving shrubs, as sweet-gale, leather-leaf, andromeda, and other shrubs which like to dabble their roots in ooze. A brook, connecting two large ponds, runs through the swamp, giving current and temperature enough to make certain a large amount of open water, even in the coldest weather.