97 



eatable or not. They preferred, in fact, not to do 

 so ; in their family, they practically sent me word, 

 they never ate victuals that had not been selected 

 by themselves ; other people might do so, and 

 they had heard that sparrows were less particular, 

 but it had never been their custom. I felt as 

 anyone would feel under the circumstances ! To- 

 day for the first time, thanks to the friendly 

 connivance of the snow, this fastidiousness has 

 broken down. With elation I perceive my dis- 

 dainful blue neighbours, not only pecking at, but 

 actually sitting and swinging in the long-despised 

 brown rings. I am trying to bear my triumph 

 meekly, and am helped towards doing so by 

 reminding myself of the well-known fact that in 

 times of stress and famine social distinctions 

 are apt to break down. I shall have to wait 

 till the weather relaxes to see whether this 

 amiability is anything more than a truce, born 

 of the hour of trouble, and not intended to last 

 beyond it. 



We are apt to talk as if the hyperborean con- 

 ditions were no concern of ours, yet, as Alphonse 

 Karr long ago remarked, we have only to sit 

 still to find that these, and most other extremes 

 of climate have come round to us. It was the 

 tropical or sub-tropical regions of the globe that 

 not long ago were good enough to send us 

 specimens of their weather, as enterprising trades- 

 people enclose samples of their goods in envelopes. 

 H 



