54 TN BIRD YEAND. 
weeds, and making many a graceful curve, loop, angle, 
and labyrinth. By following these little paths, as has 
been said before, you may trace the thoughts of a 
bird, —that is, you may for the time become a bird 
mind-reader, interpreting every impulse that seized 
the throbbing little brain and breast. 
While watching these birds in the woods, I ob- 
served a new freak of bird deportment. The juncos 
would fly up into the dogwood-trees, pick off a berry, 
nibble it greedily a moment with their little white 
mandibles, and then fling it to the ground. My eye 
was especially fixed on one little epicure. Presently 
he found a berry that was juicy and quite to his 
taste, and what did he do but seize it in his beak 
and dash down into the snow, where he stood leg- 
deep in the icy crystals until he had eaten his blood- 
red tidbit! He was in no hurry, but slowly picked 
the berry to pieces, flinging it again and again into 
the snow, devouring the soft red pulp and throw- 
ing the rind and seed away. He must have stood 
for fully five minutes in the same tracks ; at all events, 
it seemed a long while to me, standing stock-still in 
the snow, watching him eat his cold luncheon, while 
my feet were becoming chilled. I should have pitied 
his little feet had he not seemed so utterly indifferent 
to the cold. Afterward I saw a number of juncos, 
as well as tree-sparrows, taking their dinner in a simi- 
lar way, — that is, on the snow, which seemed to serve 
them fora table-cloth. Having eaten the pulp of 
the berries, they left the pits and scarlet rinds lying 
on top of the snow. Crumbs they were, scattered 
