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Bird - Lore 



grass, crevices of wood-piles, even from behind old tree-trunks, while along 

 the ditches Brown Thrashers, Catbirds, Towhees and various other birds could 

 be pulled from under roots or out of rat-holes. From the mouth of one big 



drain a flock of small birds 

 fluttered, only to return 

 over the snow in ones and 

 twos, nearly frozen. Careful 

 search showed that every- 

 where in the snow-fields were 

 birds, all cheerless, hopelessly 

 low-spirited and cold — 

 altogether at one's mercy. 

 Their unusual tameness 

 almost made it seem like a 

 new world. 



Next morning strong 

 fliers, like the Doves and 

 Meadowlarks, fairly thronged 

 the bare corn-fields, other 

 birds here and there fed on 

 the weed-seeds, but in the 

 cold could scarcely move 

 and, for the most part, sat 

 about hunched in feather 

 balls. Along the edge of the 

 woods one heard Bluebirds, 

 Jays, and an occasional 

 Flicker; otherwise all would 

 have been quiet. In the 

 afternoon many actually began to lose the power to fly and, consequently, to 

 stick closer than ever to their poor retreat. 



The one covey of Quail I saw that day was huddled under a mass of dry 

 grass from which the birds had not dared to stir since the beginning of the 

 snowfall. Strange to say, the shelter they occupied showed no sign of their 

 having moved more than a few inches in thirty-six hours, for the snow above 

 was unbroken until I came, and was not disturbed at the sides. I almost 

 stepped on them in my walk around a field, and instead of the full roar of wings, 

 heard only a fluttering as the already weakened bodies sought other shelter. 

 The bird I saw alight ran into a water-rat's hole. 



The Towhees found satisfaction in roosting under loosely built farm-build- 

 ings and, during the least cold hours of the day, in following the half-wild 

 pigs which rooted up the snow and earth in soft places. Only a few Cardinals, 

 Blue Jays, Yellow-beUied Sapsuckers, and Tufted Titmice retained any of 



WHERE A FOX HAD DROPPED THEM 



