286 TALKS WITH YOUNG OBSERVERS 



miss a bird in my walk if he is within eye or 

 ear shot, even though my mind be not intent 

 upon that subject. Walking along the road 

 this very day, feeling a cold, driving snow- 

 storm, I saw some large birds in the top of a 

 maple as I passed by. I do not know how I 

 came to see them, for I was not in an ornitho- 

 logical frame of mind. But I did. There 

 were three of them feeding upon the buds of 

 the maple. They were nearly as large as rob- 

 ins, of a dark ash color, very plump, with tails 

 much forked. What were they 1 My neigh- 

 bor did not know; had never seen such birds 

 before. I instantly knew them to be pine 

 grosbeaks from the far north. I had not seen 

 them before for ten years. A few days pre- 

 viously I had heard one call from the air as it 

 passed over; I recognized the note, and hence 

 knew that the birds were about. They come 

 down from the north at irregular intervals, and 

 are seen in flocks in various parts of the States. 

 They seem just as likely to come mild winters 

 as severe ones. Later in the day the birds 

 came about my study. I sat reading with my 

 back to the window when I was advised of their 

 presence by catching a glimpse of one reflected 

 in my eye-glasses as it flew up from the ground 

 to the branch of an apple-tree only a few feet 

 away. I only mention the circumstance to 

 show how quick an observer is to take the hint. 

 I was absorbed in my reading, but the moment 

 that little shadow flitted athwart that luminous 

 reflsction of the window in the corner of my 



