BIRDS AND NATURE. ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. Vol. X. OCTOBER, 1901. No. 3 CONTENTS. SONNET—OCTOBER. 97 October comes, a woodman old 97 THE YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER. (_Empidonax flaviventris._) 98 THE REIGN OF THE WHIPPOORWILLS. 101 RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET. (_Regulus calendula._) 102 THE CORN SONG. 104 THE OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER. (_Contopus borealis._) 107 THE COMING OF MISS OCTOBER MONTH. 108 THE TREE SPARROW. (_Spizella monticola._) 110 THE SPARROWS’ BEDTIME. 113 THE SPARROW FAMILY. 114 MR. AND MRS. SPARROW’S BLUNDER. 115 A WINDOW-PANE REVERIE. 116 THE BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER. (_Dendroica virens._) 119 A LIBEL ON THE BIRDS. 120 BERYL. 122 SONG BIRDS OF THE SOUTHWEST. 127 THE AFRICAN LION. (_Felis leo._) 131 TROUTING BAREFOOT. 133 THE ALASKAN MOOSE. (_Alces gigas._) 134 There’s a wonderful weaver 137 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A DUCK. FOUNDED UPON FACT. 138 A LOST FLOWER. 140 THE POLAR BEAR. (_Ursus maritimus._) 143 O, beautiful world of gold! 144 SONNET—OCTOBER. The month of carnival of all the year, When Nature lets the wild earth go its way, And spend whole seasons on a single day. The spring-time holds her white and purple dear; October, lavish, flaunts them far and near; The summer charily her reds doth lay Like jewels on her costliest array; October, scornful, burns them on a bier. The winter hoards his pearls of frost in sign Of kingdom: whiter pearls than winter knew, Or Empress wore, in Egypt’s ancient line, October, feasting ’neath her dome of blue, Drinks at a single draught, slow filtered through Sunshiny air, as in a tingling wine! —Helen Hunt Jackson. October comes, a woodman old, Fenced with tough leather from the cold; Round swings his sturdy axe, and lo! A fir-branch falls at every blow. —Walter Thornbury.