BIRDS AND NATURE. ILLUSTRATED BY COLOR PHOTOGRAPHY. Vol. XII. DECEMBER, 1902. No. 5. CONTENTS. DECEMBER. 193 THE HOODED ORIOLE. (_Icterus cucullatus_.) 194 THE ORIOLE’S MISSION. 197 THE CLOTHES MOTH AND ITS METHODS. 197 INCIDENTS ABOUT BIRDS. 198 THE CHUCK-WILL’S-WIDOW. (_Antrostomus carolinensis_.) 201 AN AMATEUR CIRCUS. A True Story. 202 THE GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE. (_Leucosticte tephrocotis_.) 204 CORUNDUM AND SPINEL. 207 THE WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW. (_Zonotrichia leucophrys_.) 213 AFTER THE SNOW STORM. 214 THE FEATHERED FISHERMAN. 215 A WINTER-PIECE AMONG THE PENTLANDS. 215 THE CARNATION. 216 WINTER SONG. 219 BUDS OF PROMISE. COLD WEATHER NOTES FROM NATURE. 220 HOW A CAT SAVED THE LIFE OF A CANARY. 222 THE POCKET RATS. 225 WINTER VISITORS. 226 BEAUTIFUL VINES TO BE FOUND IN OUR WILD WOODS III. 227 THE PERSIMMON. (_Diospyros virginiana_.) 228 AS TO ALLIGATORS. 231 DANDELION. (_Taraxacum taraxacum_ Karst.) 235 FROM SPRING TO RIVULET. 236 INDEX. Volume XII—June, 1902, to December, 1902, inclusive. 237 DECEMBER. When the feud of hot and cold Leaves the autumn woodlands bare; When the year is getting old, And flowers are dead, and keen the air; When the crow has new concern, And early sounds his raucous note; And—where the late witch-hazels burn— The squirrel from a chuckling throat Tells that one larder’s space is filled, And tilts upon a towering tree; And, valiant, quick, and keenly thrilled, Upstarts the tiny chickadee; When the sun’s still shortening arc Too soon night’s shadows dun and gray Brings on, and fields are drear and dark, And summer birds have flown away,— I feel the year’s slow-beating heart, The sky’s chill prophecy I know; And welcome the consummate art Which weaves this spotless shroud of snow! —Joel Benton, in “Songs of Nature.”