NEW GLEANINGS IN OLD FIELDS 



you have made yours, and intimacy with her there 

 becomes easy. Familiarity with things about one 

 should not dull the edge of curiosity or interest. 

 The walk you take to-day through the fields and 

 woods, or along the river-bank, is the walk you 

 should take to-morrow, and next day, and next. 

 What you miss once, you will hit upon next time. 

 The happenings are at intervals and are irregular. 

 The play of Nature has no fixed programme. If she 

 is not at home to-day, or is in a non-committal 

 mood, call to-morrow, or next week. It is only when 

 the wild creatures are at home, where their nests or 

 dens are made, that their characteristics come out. 

 If you would study the winter birds, for instance, 

 you need not go to the winter woods to do so; you 

 can bring them to your own door. A piece of suet 

 on a tree in front of your window will bring chicka- 

 dees, nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, brown creep- 

 ers, and often juncos. And what interest you will 

 take in these little waifs from the winter woods that 

 daily or hourly seek the bounty you prepare for 

 them ! It is not till they have visited you for weeks 

 that you begin to appreciate the bit of warmth and 

 life they have added to your winter outlook. The 

 old tree-trunk then wears a more friendly aspect. 

 The great inhospitable out-of-doors is relenting a 

 little; the cold and the snow have found their 

 match, and it warms your heart to think that you 

 can help these brave little feathered people to win 

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