DECEMBER OUT-OF-DOORS. 51 



me, you had better stay at home." He might 

 have spoken a little less pertly; for after 

 all, if a man would know what is going on, 

 whether in summer or winter, he must not 

 keep too much in his own door-yard. Of 

 the thirty birds in my December list, I 

 should have seen perhaps ten if I had sat all 

 the time at my window, and possibly twice 

 that number had I confined my walks within 

 the limits of my own town. 



While the migration is going on, to be 

 sure, one may find birds in the most unex- 

 pected places. Last May I glanced up from 

 my book and espied an olive-backed thrush 

 in the back yard, foraging among the cur- 

 rant-bushes. Raising a window quietly, I 

 whistled something like an imitation of his 

 inimitable song; and the little traveler 

 always an easy dupe pricked up his ears, 

 and presently responded with a strain which 

 carried me straight into the depths of a 

 White Mountain forest. But in December, 

 with some exceptions, of course, birds must 

 be sought after rather than waited for. The 

 15th, for example, was a most uncomforta- 

 ble day, so uncomfortable that I stayed 

 indoors, the mercury only two or three 



