194 RURAL BIRD LIFE. 



withered nettles, to feed on the tiny seeds. Clinging to 

 tlie stems, they gain their purpose, and the husks strew- 

 ing the ground beneath tell us in silent language of the 

 Redpolls' usefulness to man. When all the train of 

 choristers that seeks our land in summer has left U3, and 

 the winter makes all things cold and cheerless, the Red- 

 polls occur in much larger numbers. The far north, 

 where they love to spend their summer, is now uninhabit- 

 able, and they flock hither for food and safety. At 

 night the evergreen's ever verdant branches afford them 

 warmth and shelter from the biting winds, and it is just 

 as the blood-red wintry sun is sinking through a sky of 

 leaden hue that they seek repose. 



