BIRDS AND NATURE. ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. Vol. IX. MARCH, 1901. No. 3 CONTENTS. SPRING. 97 ABOUT PARROTS. 98 How can our fancies help but go 107 POLLY. 108 Hark! ’tis the bluebird’s venturous strain 109 THE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN. (_Pelecanus erythrorhynchos._) 110 THE SANDPIPER. 114 A BIT OF BIRD GOSSIP. 115 THE MARBLED MURRELET. (_Brachyramphus marmoratus._) 119 BEFORE THE STORM. 119 BOY-CHICKADEE. 120 THE STORY BIRD. 121 THE BEAR. 122 BIRD INCIDENTS. 126 SEA-MEWS IN WINTER TIME. 127 SNAILS OF POND, RIVER AND BROOK. 128 THE ORANGE. (_Citrus aurantium._) 134 THE MUSICAL SWAN. (_Cygnus musicus._) 137 PEPPER. (_Piper nigrum L._) 143 MARCH. 144 SPRING. Gentle Spring! in sunshine clad, Well dost thou thy power display! For Winter maketh the light heart sad, And thou, thou makest the sad heart gay. He sees thee, and calls to his gloomy train, The sleet, and the snow, and the wind, and the rain; And they shrink away, and they flee in fear, When thy merry step draws near. Winter giveth the fields and the trees, so old, Their beards of icicles and snow; And the rain, it raineth so fast and cold, We must cower over the embers low; And, snugly housed from the wind and weather, Mope like birds that are changing feather. But the storm retires, and the sky grows clear, When thy merry step draws near. Winter maketh the sun in the gloomy sky Wrap him around with a mantle of cloud; But, Heaven be praised, thy step is nigh; Thou tearest away the mournful shroud, And the earth looks bright, and Winter surly, Who has toiled for naught both late and early, Is banished afar by the new born year, When thy merry step draws near. —From the French of Charles D’Orleans, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. ABOUT PARROTS.