AT NATURAL BRIDGE . 241 



but was obliged to content myself with the 

 sight of him and the sound of his sweet, 

 quick whistle. 



All the while, as I watched one favorite 

 another would come between us. Once it 

 was a humming-bird, a bit of animate beauty 

 that must always be attended to ; and once, 

 when the place had of a sudden fallen silent, 

 and I had taken out a book, I was startled 

 by a flash of white among the branches, 

 a red-headed woodpecker, in superb color, 

 new for the year, and on all accounts wel- 

 come. He remained for a time in silence, 

 and then in silence departed (he had been 

 almost too near me before he knew it) ; but 

 having gone, he began a little way off to 

 play the tree-frog for my amusement. After 

 him a hairy woodpecker made his appear- 

 ance, with sharp, peremptory signals, highly 

 characteristic ; and then, from some point 

 near by, a rose-breasted grosbeak's hie was 

 heard. 



It was high noon before I was done with 

 " receiving " (one of the prettiest " func- 

 tions " of the year, though none of the news- 

 papers got wind of it), and returned to the 

 hotel, where the landlord smiled when I told 



