288 TALKS WITH YOUNG OBSERVERS 



only my white, uncovered hand that disturbed it. 

 Indeed, 



" They were so unacquainted with man, 

 Their tameness was shocking to see." 



The snow was covered with the yellow chaflPy 

 scales of the buds and still the birds sifted them 

 down, till I was compelled to "shoo" them 

 away, when they moved to a tree nearer the 

 house beneath which they left more yellow 

 chaff upon the snow. 



The mind of an observer is like a gun with 

 a hair trigger ~ it goes at a touch, while the 

 minds of most persons require very vigorous 

 nudging. You must take the hint and take it 

 quickly if you would get up any profitable inti- 

 macy with nature. Above all, don't jump to 

 conclusions; look again and again; verify your 

 observations. Be sure the crow is pulling corn, 

 and not probing for grubs, before you kill him. 

 Be sure it is the oriole purloining your grapes, 

 and not the sparrows, before you declare them 

 your enemies. I one day saw humming-birds 

 apparently probing the ripe yellow cheeks of my 

 finest peaches, but I was not certain till I 

 saw a bird hovering over a particular peach, and 

 then mounting upon a ladder I examined it, 

 when sure enough, the golden cheek was full of 

 pin-holes. The orioles destroy many of my 

 earliest pears, but it required much watching to 

 catch them in the very act. I once saw a 

 phoebe-bird swoop down upon a raspberry bush 

 and carry a berry to a rail on a near fence, but 



