AMONG THE WINTER TWIGS 259 



One of the most noticeable freaks to be seen among 

 the bare branches are those eccentric clusters of twigs 

 in the birch and sugar-berry trees ; all the branches run- 

 ning into brooms, as though getting ready for the spring 

 house-cleaning. But this is no natural expression of the 

 tree. It has been bewitched by a tiny mite, whose 

 broods live year after year in the crowded twigs, and 

 are the cause of the diseased growth. In early times 

 these bunches were known as "witches' brooms," and 

 all sorts of weird stories were connected with them. 

 But the true "witch" has since been caught riding the 

 broom ; and inasmuch as she is not readily discovered 

 without a magnifying glass, we need hardly worry much 

 about her. 



