RUSTLING WINGS 1 83 



bushes will startle the coveys of black 

 ducks. 



One by one the birds will go, until 

 the grackles and vesper-sparrows have 

 vanished and we hear only the notes of 

 a single song- sparrow, and the winter 

 birds quietly take possession. 



Under the pointed roof of a summer- 

 house close to the garden, a pair of 

 robins lived all through the ice of last 

 winter. During the day they took 

 shelter in the pines, foraging among 

 the bushes until the berries were picked 

 clean; then they drew nearer to their 

 roost, and finished the season with the 

 fruit of the honeysuckles, climbing 

 around it. Had they eaten this at 

 first, the snow might have besieged and 

 starved them, so they worked outside 

 and left their garrison victualled. 

 ***** 



The curtain slowly falls and the 



