In the dead of winter you may sometimes see a belted kingfisher along some swift-running stream, but as a rule, north of Virginia, few stay with us throughout the year. Most of them appear about this time, and you see them perched on some low limb overhanging a pond or a stream. Notes March Twenty-eighth From bogs, shaded woods, and sheltered highways. Nature's question-marks, the "fiddle-heads," appear above the loam. They are baby ferns, preparing to expand and wave their graceful leaves in the face of all beholders. These queer, woolly sprouts the Indians use for food, and birds also eat them. March Twenty-ninth The clear, sweet, and plaintive whistle "_pee-a-peabody, peabody, peabody_," (which to the French Canadian is interpreted "_la-belle-Canada, Canada, Canada_") of the white-throated sparrow, or Canada bird, is a common, early spring song, now heard in the swamps and thickets. This sparrow may be found about New York City all winter, but it passes North to nest. March Thirtieth Beneath hickory-nut. Walnut, and butternut trees, you are sure to find large numbers of nut-shells that have been rifled of their contents by red squirrels, chipmunks, meadow mice, and white-footed mice. In nearly every instance, the intelligent little rodents have gnawed through the flat sides of the shell, directly into the meat, and taken it out as "clean as a whistle." But who "_taught_ them" to select the _flat_ side? Notes March Thirty-first The noisy kildeer is rare in Pennsylvania and New York, but it is a common plover in Ohio. Its note, "_kildeer, kildeer, kildeer_," is emitted while the bird is on the ground or in the air. This plover is very abundant in the far West, and when a hunter is stalking antelope, it often flies about his head, calling loudly and warning the game of danger. For this trait it is sometimes called "tell-tale plover." Notes =April= April First A question which puzzles scientists, is how the turtles and frogs (which have lungs) are able, at the close of summer, to bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of a river or pond and remain there until the following spring. The frogs appear a few days before the turtles are seen. April Second The meadowlark's song, "_spring-o-the-year_," is heard at its best in this month and in May; but the note is one of the few that may be frequently heard in southern New England, during the entire winter. As its name implies, the meadowlark is a bird of the fields and meadows only, but it will often alight in the top of a tall tree and send forth its joyful song. Watch and listen for it now. April Third