AMONG THE WINTER TWIGS 259 



One of the most noticeable freaks to be seen among 

 the bare branches are those eccentric clusters of twigs 

 in the birch and sugar-berry trees ; all the branches run- 

 ning into brooms, as though getting ready for the spring 

 house-cleaning. But this is no natural expression of the 

 tree. It has been bewitched. by a tiny mite, whose 

 broods live year after year in the crowded twigs, and 

 are the cause of the diseased growth. In early times 

 these bunches were known as " witches' brooms," and 

 all sorts of weird stories were connected with them. 

 But the true " witch" has since been caught riding the 

 broom ; and inasmuch as she is not readily discovered 

 without a magnifying glass, we need hardly worry much 

 about her. 



