A WIDOW AND TWINS. 
“The fatherless and the widow . . . shall eat and be 
satisfied.’’ — DruTERONOMY xiv. 29. 
On the ist of June, 1890, I formally 
broke away from ornithological pursuits. 
For two months, more or less, — till the 
autumnal migration should set in, —I1 was 
determined to have my thoughts upon other 
matters. There is no more desirable play- 
thing than an outdoor hobby, but a man 
ought not to be forever in the saddle. Such, 
at all events, had always been my opinion, 
so that I long ago promised myself never to 
become, what some of my acquaintances, 
perhaps with too much reason, were now 
beginning to consider me, a naturalist, and 
nothing else. That would be letting the 
hobby-horse run away with its owner. For 
the time being, then, birds should pass un- 
noticed, or be looked at only when they came 
in my way. A sensible resolve. But the 
maker of it was neither Mede nor Persian, 
