284 THE INVITATION. 



and in the outskirts of the city came about 

 the windows and doors, crept behind the 

 blinds, clung to the gutters and beneath the 

 cornice, flitted from porch to porch, and 

 from house to house, seeking in vain for 

 some safe retreat from the cold. The street 

 pump, which had a small opening, just over 

 the handle, was an attraction which they 

 could not resist. And yet they seemed 

 aware of the insecurity of the position ; for 

 no sooner would they stow themselves away 

 into the interior of the pump, to the number 

 of six or eight, than they would rush out 

 again, as if apprehensive of some approach- 

 ing danger. Time after time the cavity was 

 filled and refilled, with blue and brown inter- 

 mingled, and as often emptied. Presently 

 they tarried longer than usual, when I made 

 a sudden sally and captured three, that found 

 a warmer and safer lodging for the night in 

 the cellar. 



In the fall, birds and fowls of all kinds 

 become very fat. The squirrels and mice 

 lay by a supply of food in their dens and 

 retreats ; but the birds, to a considerable 

 extent, especially our winter residents, carry 

 an equivalent in their own systems, in the 

 form of adipose tissue. I killed a red- 



