134 FRIENDS WORTH KNOWING. 
in trees or holes in the ground for nesting-places, as though 
consciously profiting by their experience of the security 
afforded. 
Another very important circumstance favoring the pres- 
ervation of small birds at this season is the fact that in the 
majority of cases the tints of their plumages are precisely 
such as best harmonize with the surroundings in which 
they are most often seen, and thus make them less discern- 
ible than they otherwise might be. Looking through our 
list of winter birds, many striking examples of this pro- 
tective coloration are found—more, in proportion, than in 
summer, when there does not seem to be so great need of 
individual safety, and the “struggle for existence” is not 
narrowed down to such a strait, and beset with so many 
difficulties. The kinglets, for instance, spend their time 
in flitting about the tops of the trees, and their plumage is 
found to be a dusky green, like an old leaf, while the fiery 
crowns which both wear are concealed, except at moments 
(of love-passion, I imagine) when they wish to display 
them. Easier to detect than the kinglets, yet plainly dress- 
ed, are the titmice and nuthatches; but these frequent 
widely different scenes, and, moreover, have compensating 
advantages beyond most other birds in the habit of living 
mostly in the deep woods where diurnal birds of prey are 
