38 About the Feathered Folk. 



follows the familiar " downy-browny" 

 birds, as they come flitting through 

 the hedges, or hopping about our 

 doors. Cock Robin is always 

 "bold " to us, and we look for him, 

 and pet him, and admire him, 

 reckoning him as much a part of 

 homely winters as are the holly 

 leaves themselves. 



Jenny Wren has nothing to do 

 with him in reality; it is only in 

 song and in our fancy that her 

 fortunes are linked with his. But 

 we love her almost as much, and 

 think that her shy, retiring ways 

 greatly befit so tiny and dainty a 

 creature; and if the praise we give 

 to her modest dress be quite mis- 

 placed, it is not the less sincere. 



That Brown Gown of hers is a 

 most wonderful and perfect gar- 

 ment ; and the absence of colouring 

 upon it makes it all the more ex- 

 quisitely fitted for her needs. She 

 lives amongst the hedge-stems, the 



