22 Clear Skies and Cloudy. 



glee as they came to rest on the brittle twigs 

 of the shrubbery. I sat still, and drinking in 

 the warmth made no motion but with my eyes. 

 Not a bird but came closer, and as I measured 

 after, many were within three feet of my face. 

 Only the jays held moderately aloof, and prob- 

 ably by so doing showed to a greater advan- 

 tage. After all, is there not much in wildness 

 that is to be commended ? If birds flew in 

 our open windows and perched like flies on our 

 bald heads during a summer nap, then our in- 

 terest might flag. It is possible to maintain an 

 interest in things we cannot touch and to lose 

 interest in them when too often in our hands. 

 The jays, by reason of their size and brilliant 

 plumage, made fitting background to the win- 

 some wee birds that desired to fathom the mys- 

 tery of my fire. But what has all this to do 

 with frost foliage? Nothing, perhaps, to you, 

 even after my explanation, but much to me. 

 Not a bird in the bush or on a tree but is a 

 winter bird ; a bird as characteristic of this 

 January day as are the swallows of summer 

 sunshine. They have come, as it were, to me 

 to replace the leaves. They revivify the land- 



