204 WINTER BIRDS ABOUT BOSTON. 
engaging. Emerson’s “atom in full breath” 
and “scrap of valor’ would apply to him even 
better than to the titmouse. He says little, — 
zee, zee, zee is nearly the limit of his vocabu- 
lary ; but his lively demeanor and the grace 
and agility of his movements are in themselves 
an excellent language, speaking infallibly a con- 
tented mind. (It is a fact, on which I forbear 
to moralize, that birds seldom look unhappy 
except when they are idle.) His diminutive size 
attracts attention even from those who rarely 
notice such things. About the first of Decem- 
ber, a year ago, I was told of a man who had 
shot a humming-bird only a few days before in 
the vicinity of Boston. Of course I expressed a 
polite surprise, and assured my informant that 
such a remarkable capture ought by all means 
to be put on record in ‘** The Auk,” as every 
ornithologist in the land would be interested 
in it. On this he called upon the lucky sports- 
man’s brother, who happened to be standing by, 
to corroborate the story. Yes, the latter said, 
the fact was as had been stated. ‘ But then,” 
he continued, ‘the bird did n’t have a long bill, 
like a humming-bird ;” and when I suggested 
that perhaps its crown was yellow, bordered 
with black, he said, ‘‘ Yes, yes; that’s the bird, 
exactly.” So easy are startling discoveries to 
an observer who has just the requisite amount 
