202 WINTER BIRDS ABOUT BOSTON. 



camping grounds so exposed and public as this 

 in the rear of the " Half-way House." 



Our only cold-weather thrushes are the rob- 

 ins. They may be found any time in favorable 

 situations ; and even in so bleak a place as Bos- 

 ton Common I have seen them in every month 

 of the year except February. This exception, 

 moreover, is more apparent than real, — at the 

 most a matter of but twenty-four hours, sinc^ 

 I once saw four birds in a tree near the Frog 

 Pond on the last day of January. The house 

 sparrows were as much surprised as I was at 

 the sight, and, with characteristic urbanity, gath- 

 ered from far and near to sit in the same tree 

 with the visitors, and stare at them. 



We cannot help being grateful to the robins 

 and the song sparrows, who give us their soci- 

 ety at so great a cost ; but their presence can 

 scarcely be thought to enliven the season. 

 At its best their bearing is only that of patient 

 submission to the inevitable. They remind us 

 of the summer gone and the summer coming, 

 rather than brighten the winter that is now 

 upon us ; like friends who commiserate us in 

 some affliction, but are not able to comfort us. 

 How different the chickadee ! In the worst 

 weather his greeting is never of condolence, but 

 of good cheer. He has no theory upon the sub- 

 ject, probably ; he is no Shepherd of Salisbury 



