disturb him at all, although he was only a little
above their heads. He drilled away as if his work in the world was the
work which must be done. A downy woodpecker with a slightly wounded
wing was brought into one of our schoolrooms, where he lived
contentedly for several days, pecking a dead treetop, which the boys
brought in for him after a good deal of thought and several
excursions. The only food he seemed to like was sweetened water,
although the children brought him a great variety to choose from. No
visitor to a schoolroom ever produced a better effect. His presence,
instead of interfering with the regular order, pleased the children,
and they did their work even better than usual. When his wing was
healed he was dismissed from school through the window, and his flight
to a neighboring treetop was anxiously watched.

Upon many other occasions wounded birds have been brought into our
schools. Some recovered and others died, but each visit was an epoch
in the life of the school.

The other birds most likely to visit this feast during January are the
flicker, crow, purple finch, song sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch,
snow-flake; American crossbill, white-throated sparrow, tree sparrow,
junco, winter wren, golden-crowned kinglet, brown creeper, and even
the solitary robin. The sparrow hawk and the sharp-shinned hawk may
visit the vicinity to feed upon the other feeders. On the first of
January I saw a sparrow hawk sitting on the spire of a church in the
heart of a city of eighteen thousand people. After selecting a victim
from the sparrows on the street below, he calmly spread his wings and
pounced upon him, or with no effort at concealment chased the bird
whose flight was nearest.

A female sparrow hawk wintered in the eaves of an apartment house in
Morningside Park, New York City. English sparrow was its principal
diet, and every morning and afternoon an observer might have seen the
hawk soar to the park grounds on its hunting trips.

A few years ago a sharp-shinned hawk visited our yard. Apparently he
lived upon the sparrows there for several days. There was no skill in
his hunting or effort to take the game unawares. When he wanted a bird
he simply left his perch and captured it by speed of wing. His ease of
flight was remarkable; as a little boy said, "He just opened his wings
and sailed away." He stayed until the sparrows left the neighborhood.

As the season advances the birds will come in greater numbe