It is the earnest hope of the writer that these few very brief sketches may be of use to those interested in entering the delightful field of the study of birds; your experience may and probably will be different from that which I have cited, which only goes to show that everyone must really see for himself, and not only that, but by so doing may make new observations and get new ideas on practically all of even our best known birds. Birds are not, as a rule, hard to watch, and the patience it requires to sit still and "be a stump" long enough for birds to cease noticing you is soon and amply repaid by the new insight into an unknown realm which is sure to follow. LIST OF BIRDS COMPRISING THE SPRING MIGRATION. (Until April 20--Approximate.) (_Taken from Chapman's Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America._) Date of arrival. Feb. 15-Mar. 10. Purple Grackle. Rusty Grackle. Red-winged Blackbird. Robin. Bluebird. Mar. 10-20 Woodcock. Phoebe. Meadow Lark. Cowbird. Fox-sparrow. Mar. 20-31 Wilson's Snipe. Kingfisher. Mourning Dove. Swamp-sparrow. Field-sparrow. April 1-10 Great Blue Heron. Purple Finch. Vesper-sparrow. Savanna-sparrow. Chipping-sparrow. Tree Swallow. Myrtle Warbler. American Pipit. Hermit Thrush. April 10-20 Yellow-bellied Woodpecker. Barn Swallow. Yellow Palm Warbler. Pine Warbler. Louisiana Water Thrush. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. LEAFLET XXIV. THE WOODPECKERS.[31] BY ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK. [31] Home Nature-Study Course, Vol. IV, No. 30, March, 1903. [Illustration] It is best to follow some definite line of bird study for an entire year. All of the observations that could be made in a single month on any bird would give but an inadequate idea of its habits. To know the life of a bird, one must study it month by month for at least one year.