GIFT IDEAS: If you’ve got a beginning birdwatcher on your
Christmas list, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has the perfect
gift.[neWLine]

The commission offers a bird song audio “”Identiflyer”” which
comes with two audio cards, an earphone for in-the-field use, a
bird-watching guide booklet and three AAA batteries already
inserted.[neWLine]

The Identiflyer and many other unique items are available from
“”The Outdoor Shop”” listed on its website
(www.pgc.state.pa.us).[neWLine]

The cards that come with the Identiflyer are the Yard Bird
series. Each card has the name and a drawing of the bird, and by
pressing the button beside the each bird, the Identiflyer will play
a short sample of the bird’s song.[neWLine]

Card one features the rock dove, mourning dove, downy
woodpecker, flicker, American crow, black-capped chickadee,
white-breasted nuthatch, house wren, American robin, and the
mockingbird. Card two features the European starling, common
yellow-throat, cardinal, song sparrow, red-winged blackbird,
brown-headed cowbird, Baltimore oriole, house finch, American
goldfinch, and the house sparrow.[neWLine]

Other song card series are also available.[neWLine]

“”This series is perhaps one of the best products we have yet to
offer that will help the public become more familiar with our wild
birds,”” said Game Commission Executive Director Carl G. Roe.
“”This would make the perfect gift for the young student or
birdwatcher on your holiday list.””[neWLine]

Know someone who wants to see and learn more about
Pennsylvania’s white-tailed deer, black bear and elk? The Game
Commission is making a special “”buy two, get a third free”” offer
of its three feature-length videos on these game
species.[neWLine]

Another popular holiday gift is a subscription to Pennsylvania
Game News, the Game Commission’s official monthly
magazine.[neWLine]

Still haven’t found the right gift? Choose from an assortment of
wildlife books; bird and mammal charts by the late, famed Ned
Smith; Smith’s popular field journal, Gone for the Day; fluorescent
orange SPORT hats; cookbooks; cooking aprons; waterfowl stamps; and
a wildlife viewing guide.[neWLine]

The agency also offers a pair of stuffed bears for the plush toy
collector.[neWLine]

[neWLine]

TODAY’S QUOTE: “”Since informed public opinion is the most
potent of all restraints upon misgovernment, the suppression or
abridgment of the publicity afforded by a free press cannot be
regarded otherwise than with grave concern,”” said George
Sutherland, former U.S. Supreme Court justice, 1936.