HINTS TO ORNITHOLOGISTS. 355 



liimself acquainted with the nature of the several trees 

 whose branches he explores. He will then mount fear- 

 lessly up the oak's sturdy hmbs, and trust himself safely 

 to the short dead branches of the pine. He will view 

 the treacherous limbs of the elm with mistrust, and 

 cautiously commit himself to the brittle and unstable 

 alder. The weeping birchen twigs will sustain him 

 without danger, but he will view with suspicion the 

 somewhat unreliable branches of the beech. And so he 

 will acquaint himself with these various little items, and 

 profit accordingly by them. Even when treading the 

 dreary swamp he can pass safely and almost dryshod by 

 stepping on the reed tufts, and thus approach closely 

 the objects he seeks. One of the best modes of observ- 

 ing the actions of birds is from the branches of trees 

 well concealed by the foliage. My own love for arboreal 

 celsitude has served me well, some of my most remark- 

 able observations having been made when seated in the 

 branches, viewing animated nature, unknown and unseen, 

 from the deepest foliage. 



The various haunts of birds at different times of the 

 year must also be made acquaintance with. Then the 

 observer by his previously acquired knowledge can find 

 any particular bird his fancy dictates or his wants re- 

 quire. Thus in seed time he will repair to the newly 

 sown land if he wishes to seethe Bunting and Chaffinch; 

 yet at nightfall he will just as surely find them amongst 

 the evergreen's perennial foliage. In winter time he will 

 repair to the meadows and turnip fields if he wishes a 

 sight of the Meadow Pipit ; but in summer he must 

 seek it on the far-stretching and barren moor, where it 

 retires at that season to rear its young. In the autumn 

 he will find the birch coppices replete with Titmice and 

 Gold Crests, but in the winter they frequent the hed^e- 



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