The tail of the brown creeper, and of all of the thirty-five species and sub-species of woodpeckers, is provided with stiff, pointed feathers which curve in slightly. With the chimney swift, each feather is armed with a spine. While woodpeckers cling to a tree trunk, and the chimney swift to the side of a chimney, their stiff tails help to support them. November Ninth Although the darning-needle, dragon fly, snake feeder, or snake doctor is perfectly harmless, Howard says, "Some believe that they will sew up the ears of bad boys; others that they will sting horses; still others that they act as feeders and physicians to snakes, especially to water snakes." They are the beautiful lace-winged insects that frequently dip down and pick up an insect from the surface of a pond or a river. Notes November Tenth Conspicuous in the withered grass of upland meadows are the white flowers of the several species of everlasting. If picked before they begin to fade, they will keep through winter nearly as fresh and white as when the blossoming season was at its height. November Eleventh In the mountains of the North, the black bear is beginning to look for a suitable place in which to pass the winter. Many bears could wear their skins much longer if they would only hibernate before the snow begins to fly. Every hunter anxiously awaits the first fall of snow, which makes the tracking of bears so easy. November Twelfth Nine out of every ten persons call salamanders or newts, "lizards." Lizards do not metamorphose; consequently they are never found in the water. They are very swift; lovers of the sun, and in the East are rarely seen north of a line parallel with southern New England. Salamanders are found either _in the water or in damp places_. They metamorphose, and when on the ground their efforts to escape are feeble. Notes November Thirteenth Owls, woodpeckers, ducks, doves, pigeons, the ruffed grouse, Bob-white, belted kingfisher, ruby-throated hummingbird, chimney swift, short-billed marsh wren, and bush-tit lay eggs that are glossy white or various shades of white or buff-color. The eggs of the herons, cuckoos, robin, bluebird, catbird, Wilson's thrush, and hermit thrush are blue, green, or various shades of those colors. November Fourteenth Just at evening the white-throated sparrows, from the thickets, call their sweet, clear good-night to one another. As the darkness falls, the calls gradually cease, until only an occasional flutter is heard as some restless bird, not satisfied with its perch, chooses a new position for the night. November Fifteenth