SOME LABRADOR TREES 



thick, sturdy yellowish green needles of the 

 red spruce, the slender, more delicate blueish- 

 black foliage of the black spruce, and the hand- 

 some blue green branches of the white spruce 

 are generally recognizable at a glance. One 

 recognizes one's friends, however, not by noting 

 that their eyes are black or blue, their noses 

 are aquiline or otherwise, but by their general 

 appearance, their distinctive air, by an in- 

 tangible something one would be at a loss to 

 define. I have known two brothers, one with 

 black eyes, the other with blue, one with a 

 beard, the other beardless, yet with a such 

 strong family likeness to each other that they 

 have been mistaken at a distance. The orni- 

 thologist often recognizes birds by little traits 

 that are unknown to the beginner, who is 

 slowly mastering the recognized field marks 

 of the books. The former knows a blue-bird 

 in the dusk when the blue back and the red 

 breast look all of one colour. In the same way 

 the master of the subject of trees can often tell 

 at a glance the species, although he may not 

 be conscious of the steps by which he arrived 

 at his diagnosis. To an amateur this is a con- 

 summation devoutly to be hoped for, and in the 



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