28 THE SNOW BUNTING. 



fine particles. When they fall rightly, examine them on 

 your coat-sleeve under a magnifying glass, and you will 

 find them to be among the most perfect of nature's mar- 

 velous workmanship. 



THE SNOW BUNTING. 



A cold, gray, midwinter day had been followed by a quiet 

 snow-fall of many inches, which, perfectly undisturbed, lay 

 in a huge, evenly-distributed pile over the entire landscape. 



THE SNOW BUNTING. 



From the dried mullein-stalk, standing in the fence-corner, 

 to the heavy forest, the form of every object was changed, 

 was rendered fantastic and ghost-like, in this universal 

 shroud of pure white. Now the flakes were unusually 

 large and elaborate; for, be it remembered, nearly every 

 snow-storm affords a new pattern of the flake. On the 

 bright morning which followed, while the whole earth gave 

 back the grateful rays of the sun in countless tiny stars of 

 dazzling scintillation, I was just in the act of dipping up a 

 handful of the fleecy snow in absorbing admiration, when 

 lo ! an immense cloud, nearly as white as the sno-vy itself, 



