A MIDWINTER WALK. 211 



chickadees, they would beg to be excused. And 

 so, when they foresaw the nature of the storm on 

 the previous day, their instinct taught them that 

 their perches woukl be covered with snow, and 

 they, therefore, took wing for a more southern lat- 

 itude, where the climate was more congenial to 

 chickadee life. It was probably not necessary for 

 them to make an aerial voyage of more than fifty 

 or a hundred miles to escape the storm, or, at least, 

 the more disagreeable part of it. Some one may 

 suggest that they had only hidden themselves in 

 some cosy shelter, and for that reason I did not 

 find them. No, indeed ! Nothing could be more 

 unlikely. That would have been out of all keep- 

 ing with chickadee activity. A titmouse never 

 keeps quiet. A more voluble little bird does not 

 infest the woods. 



The next day was cold and windy, but during 

 the night the weather moderated, and when morn- 

 ingf came the sun shone warm and briofht. Thus 

 the branches of the trees and saplings were mostly 

 divested of their snowy wardrobe, and again held 

 out convenient perches for the birds to tilt on. 

 Had they come back so soon from their journey 

 to parts unknown? That is my hypothesis, at 

 least, and I give it only for what it is worth as a 



