PHASES OF BIRD LIFE. 205 
transfigure himself in the same way, except that his 
entire crown became ruby. Probably the little 
Chesterfield that can exhibit the most brilliant coro- 
nal wins the sweetest damsel in the kinglet commu- 
nity for a wifie. 
Perhaps, as a rule, our winter birds find the 
season rather cold for play; yet they often frolic in 
the snow like children, even when they do not stalk 
through it in quest of food. ‘This is especially true 
of the snow-birds and tree-sparrows. Birds are 
especially fond of splashing in water. Even in the 
winter-time, when it flows ice-cold into the stream 
or pond from the melting snow on the banks, certain 
birds will plunge into it, and enjoy their bath for 
many minutes. They do not seem to be satisfied 
with merely wetting their plumes, but remain in the 
water, twinkling their wings and tails, much longer 
than is actually necessary. Several times in the 
autumn I have seen a large company of warblers of 
different species taking a bath in a woodland pond. 
How they enjoyed their ablutions! Again and 
again they would return to the water, as if loath to 
quit it. 
To my mind, the flicker is one of our most playful 
birds, spite of his staid looks. I have seen a half- 
dozen of these birds on a single tree, scudding 
about after one another and calling, Zzwzck-ah } 
zwick-ah! in their affectionate way. Not infre- 
quently two of them will face each other, and begin 
bowing in a vigorous style, turning their heads dex- 
terously from side to side to avoid collision, This 
