48 FIRST MEETINGS. 



brier and brake ; and when I reached an open space, 

 what should I see before me, perched on a tall 

 bush, but a rosy-hued bird, preening his feathers 

 as quietly as if he had never been frightened in 

 his life! My pulses were all a-fiutter. I had made 

 the acquaintance of the purple finch. And there 

 by his side sat his little wife marked with brown 

 and white stripes. You may guess my first excla- 

 mation when I got home ! 



