96 ADIRONDAC. 



At the clearing of an old hunter and 

 pioneer by the name of Hewett, where we 

 paused a couple of days on first entering the 

 woods, I saw many old friends and made 

 some new acquaintances. The snow-bird 

 was very abundant here, as it had been at 

 various points along the route, after leaving 

 Lake George. As I went to the spring in 

 the morning to wash myself, a purple finch 

 flew up before me, having already performed 

 its ablutions. I had first observed this bird 

 the winter before in the Highlands of the 

 Hudson, where, during several clear but cold 

 February mornings, a troop of them sang 

 most charmingly in a tree in front of my 

 house. The meeting with the bird here in 

 its breeding haunts was a pleasant surprise. 

 During the day, I observed several pine 

 finches, a dark brown or brindlish bird, 

 allied to the common yellow-bird, which it 

 much resembles in its manner and habits. 

 They lingered familiarly about the house, 

 sometimes alighting in a small tree within a 

 few feet of it. In one of the stumpy fields 

 I saw an old favorite in the grass finch or 

 vesper sparrow. It was sitting on a tall 

 charred stub with food in its beak. But all 

 along the borders of the woods and in the 



