_"Of one maternal spirit bringing forth
And cherishing with ever constant love,
That tires not, nor betrays."_

But snowstorms will soon be over. The nature-lover's spring begins
near the end of the month, sometimes just before, sometimes just
after. The snow and the ice will be honeycombed by the sun and we
shall begin to look for the sap trickling from the maple, and to
strain our ears for the first note of the wild goose and the
blue-bird,

_"While winter, slumbering in the open air
Wears on his smiling face a dream of spring."_

The frequent rambler through the winter woods can scarcely fail to
become acquainted with all the winter birds. The different species are
not numerous, few of them are very shy, they are easily seen because
of the bare trees, and their habits tend to call attention to them;
especially is this true of the woodpeckers. It is true, of course,
that one may sometimes walk in the woods for hours, scarcely seeing a
single bird. But it is also true that if he starts out some sunny
morning, and seeks a tract of heavy timber near a river, he will be
very likely to see and hear nearly all of them.

Such a ramble was enjoyed during the halcyon days we had this year
(1907) in February. By 10 o'clock the woods were fairly ringing with
bird-calls. Over a meadow, near the entrance to the woods, a
red-tailed hawk was circling about twenty-five feet from the ground,
as if in search of meadow mice. The field glass showed the black band