BIRDS AND NATURE. ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. VOL. VIII. DECEMBER, 1900. NO. 5. CONTENTS. Page DECEMBER. 193 THE WESTERN HORNED OWL. 194 THE OWL. 198 THE LONG-CRESTED JAY. 201 THE SUNRISE SERENADE. 202 A VICTIM OF CIRCUMSTANCES. 203 THE FULVOUS TREE-DUCK. 204 HOW THE SWIFTS CAME TO BUILD IN AUNT DOROTHY'S CHIMNEY. 207 THE RED-BREASTED SAPSUCKER. 213 A WHITE TABLE IN THE WOODS. 214 THE MOON-BABY. 215 THE CECROPIA AND PROMETHEA MOTHS. 216 A PLEA FOR LEGISLATIVE PROTECTION. 221 THE DOG AND ITS ANCESTORS. 225 A FAVORITE HAUNT. 227 CARNIVOROUS PLANTS. 228 MAPLE LEAVES. 232 MAY-APPLE. 235 INDEX. DECEMBER. The lakes of ice gleam bluer than the lakes Of water 'neath the summer sunshine gleamed; Far fairer than when placidly it streamed, The brook its frozen architecture makes, And under bridges white its swift way takes. Snow comes and goes as messenger who dreamed Might linger on the road; or one who deemed His message hostile, gently, for their sakes Who listened, might reveal it by degrees. We gird against the cold of winter wind Our loins now with mighty bands of sleep, In longest, darkest nights take rest and ease, And every shortening day, as shadows creep O'er the brief noontide, fresh surprises find. --Helen Hunt Jackson Best of all, old King December, Laughs beside the burning ember, With his children round his knees, And a look of jovial ease. He is crowned Lord of Misrule-- Here's his Queen, and there's his fool. He is wreathed with frosty green, And ever the gay song between "Wassail!" shouts he, "health to all!" And re-echoes the old hall.-- Kind December! --Walter Thornbury, "The Twelve Brothers." Copyright, 1900, by A. W. Mumford. THE WESTERN HORNED OWL. (_Bubo virginianus subarcticus._) "Bird of the silent wing and expansive eye, grimalkin in feathers, feline, mousing, haunting ruins and towers, and mocking the midnight stillness with thy uncanny cry."--_John Burroughs, Birds and Poets._