IN THE ICE-CLAD WOODS. 161 



course lie could not cling tliere, for his claws 

 would not penetrate tlie ice, which was still 

 very hard, and so he was forced to clamber to 

 another perch. But what were those birds flit- 

 ting about me so airily ? They were the jolly 

 juncos, or snowbirds, which, to my surprise, I 

 had failed to see at all on the previous day. 

 Where could they have been ? Not one had 

 been seen, while to-day I found several bevies 

 of them in various parts of the woods, as fear- 

 less as ever of my presence. Yet another fact 

 was not less puzzling. You may remember 

 that yesterday I found the tomtits and downy 

 woodpeckers here in abundance, but to-day 

 they are nowhere to be found, look as I may. 

 The appearances and disappearances of many 

 species of birds are quite perplexing to the stu- 

 dent of their habits. 



