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 i82 Bird -Lore population which make no two months in the bird student's year alike, and give to his outings a perennially renewed interest. Conse- quently, the subject which has most naturally suggested itself for the year's study is that of 'Birds and Seasons.' Under this head the writers we have mentioned will call the student's attention to the more significant phases of bird-life as they are controlled by season, and there will be added suggestions for lines of study, related articles, and references to the literature of the subjects under consideration. Thus we may take up in their due time the questions of the relation of food to the distribution of birds, migra- tion, mating, singing, nesting, molting, etc. Such a plan, it seems to us, should be of value not only to the isolated worker but to the members of bird clubs and natural history societies, who it is hoped may find it advisable to take the course of study here suggested. In this connection, we would call the attention of our more recent readers to Bird-Lore's Advisory Council, composed of over fifty promi- nent ornithologists, distributed throughout the United States and Canada, who have consented to respond to requests for information and advice. The names and addresses of members of the Council were published in Bird-Lore for February, igoo, and an amended list will be published in our next issue. •• DECEMBER AND JANUARY BIRD-LIFE NEAR BOSTON Bv Ralph Hoffmann There is practically no southward or northward movement of birds between Christmas week and St. Valentine's Day. A bird seen between these dates is either a regular or an occasional winter resi- dent, a chance straggler who has lost his way and his migrating companions, or one of those northern visitors whose coming no one can foretell. Not only is the number of species very small at this season, but the individuals have become comparatively very scarce. In the deep woods we walk in utter solitude, until at last the whirr of a Grouse or the lisp of distant Chickadees breaks the stillness. For the rarer winter birds we must look into sheltered hollows, or near the sea, where the snow soon disappears. Our intercourse with the few friends that are left now gains an added value. We make pilgrimages to some wintering Song Sparrow, and feel repaid for a long walk by the sight of a Shrike balancing on the top of a tree. The squawk of a Robin, so familiar in summer, is now a startling sound. By hanging suet, bones or broken nuts near the house, we shall attract the Chickadees and their companions, the Nuthatches and Downy Woodpeckers, and all soon become regular and most