These four come almost every day, but besides these I sometimes see Elrif^lish and Tree Sparrows after the crumbs upon the j^jround. With them sometimes come the beautiful little Juncos. with their slaty gray vests and white shirt-fronts. I have not yet induced a Hairy Woodpecker or a Flicker, who are both cousins of the Downy, to come to my restaurant, and I do not as yet number among my guests the Bluejay or the Crow. All of these are among our common winter birds, but I suspect that the last two would be unwelcome at the lunch counter: they are so large and domi- neering that they would be likely to crowd out many of the smaller birds. I shall probably remain in the hotel business another season, and hope to have other guests, like the Goldfinch in his winter coat, the Red- breasted Nuthatch, Purple Finch, and others of the rarer winter birds. A WOODPECKER PATRON A Prize Offered Bird -Lore proposes to of^er a series of prizes to Young Observers of fourteen years or younger, who send the best accounts of the habits of certain common birds. The first bird will be the crow. For the best article of between 700 and 800 words on the crow we will give a copy of Seton- Thompson's 'Lives of the Hunted,' or some other book of equal value. The manuscript should be in our hands not later than January i, 1902.
