WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



excellent security from their nocturnal winged 

 enemies, although quite accessible to foxes and 

 weasels. It is a curious fact that fourteen or 

 fifteen of our January birds choose hollows in 

 trees or holes in the ground for nesting-places, 

 as though consciously profiting by their experience 

 of the security afforded. 



Another very important circumstance favoring 

 the preservation of small birds at this season is 

 the fact that in the majority of cases the tints of 

 their plumages are precisely such as best har- 

 monize with the surroundings in which they are 

 most often seen, and thus make them less discern- 

 ible than they otherwise might be. Looking 

 through our list of winter birds, many striking 

 examples of this protective coloration are found — 

 more, in proportion, than in summer, when there 

 does not seem to be so great need of individual 

 safety, and the "struggle for existence" is not 

 narrowed down to such a strait and beset with 

 so many difficulties. The kinglets, for instance, 

 spend their time in flitting about the tops of the 

 trees, and their plumage is found to be a dusky 

 green, like an old leaf, while the fiery crowns which 

 both wear are concealed, except at moments (of 

 love-passion, I imagine) when they wish to display 



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