XXI 
MIDWINTER BIRDS 
WINTER COMRADES 
Plume and go, ye summer folk 
Fly from Winter’s killing stroke, 
Bluebird, Sparrow, Thrush, and Swallow, 
Wild Geese from the marshes follow, 
Wood-dove from the lonesome hollow 
Rise and follow South — all follow! 
Now I greet ye, hardy tribes, 
Snowy Owl, and night-black Crow, 
Starling with your wild halloo; 
Blue Jay screaming like the wind, 
In the tree-tops gaunt and thinned; 
You in summer called ‘‘ Bob-white”’ 
(Voice of far-off fields’ delight). 
Now among the barn-yard brood 
Fearless, searching for your food; 
Nuthatch, Snowbird, Chickadee, 
Downy tapper on the tree; 
And you twittering Goldfinch drove 
(Masked in gray) that blithely rove 
Where the herby pastures show 
Tables set above the snow: 
And ye other flocks that ramble, 
Where the red hop trims the bramble, 
Or the rowan-berry bright 
And the scarlet haw invite — 
293 
